Sweetest Devotion
by SaraAnn88
Summary: Set in 2010. Luke and Lorelai are married, and life is anything but simple. Running two businesses, trying to keep up with two daughters who are in different states, and struggling to have a baby. Life is constantly throwing curve balls at them. Mostly JavaJunkie with some Literati.
1. Prologue

So I started the story a good year and a half ago, but never had the courage to actually post it, and for awhile I didn't have much time to write. But after the revival, I felt inspired to write, and started making more time for it. I have quite a bit written already, so let me know your thoughts, and if there is enough interest, I will post more! Since this prologue is so short, I may go ahead and post the first chapter tonight or tomorrow.

* * *

 **Prologue**

 _April 2010_

Luke watched as his wife began to stir from her slumber. Even though it had been very late when they had finally fallen asleep after a night of passionate lovemaking, he still awoke long before Lorelai. The night before, he had sent a text to Cesar, asking if he would be okay opening the diner the following morning. Knowing what Luke and Lorelai were going through and that they hadn't had much time together lately, Cesar gladly agreed. Luke had planned on getting up and making them breakfast before he went in to work, but he was too entranced by Lorelai's sleeping form.

Lorelai stretched and let out a moan as the sheet that covered her slipped below her bare breasts.

"Good morning to you too," Luke smirked.

"I thought you would be at the diner by now," Lorelai smiled, pulling the sheet back up over her body before leaning over to kiss him.

"Cesar has it taken care of," he told her as he began to trail kisses down her jawline to her neck.

"Then we can stay in bed all day long?" She asked hopefully.

"I wish," Luke replied. "But I really need to be in by lunch since we're going to Hartford for dinner."

"What time is it?"

"Almost 9:30," Luke answered, lazily running his hand up and down her side.

"Then we have time for a few more rounds," she grinned as she hooked a leg around his body.

"As you wish," he said, flipping them over so she was underneath him.

* * *

"So dinner with your parents is at 7?" Luke asked Lorelai, who was sitting at the counter in the diner after eating lunch.

After spending most of the morning in bed, Luke had insisted Lorelai come to the diner for lunch, because they hadn't allowed time for breakfast, much to Luke's dismay. He was constantly harassing Lorelai about eating a good breakfast.

"Yes, but we have to be at the train station in Hartford to pick up Rory and Jess at 5:45, so we need to leave here around 5," she reminded him.

"Okay, then I will be home around 4:30 so I can shower and change," he told her.

"You know…we've been married for almost two years now, you don't have to work so hard to impress my parents," she told him.

"I'm not doing it to impress them," he said, shooting her a smug look. "It's your birthday dinner, Lorelai, I know you're going to look nice, Rory's going to look nice…hell, even Jess will probably bust out a nice pair of slacks."

"And we can't have you out-dressed by your nephew," Lorelai teased.

"I don't mind dressing up, it's your birthday dinner," he smiled warmly. "If wearing nice clothes will thwart your mother's backhanded comments on the matter, I am happy to do so."

"I knew there was a reason I married you," she grinned.

Luke rolled his eyes, then leaned in close so no one would overhear the next part of their conversation.

"So you think we did it?" he asked.

Lorelai let out a snort. "Was I _that_ bad? Of course we did it…many times, I might add." She reminded him, a little louder than Luke had hoped, he shot her a look as she stifled a giggle. "Sorry."

"I mean, do you think we made a baby?" He muttered

"I don't know…it's very possible. I guess time will tell," she shrugged, hoping to change the subject, grabbing her purse off the counter as she stood up. "I better go, I need to get the comforter on the bed in Rory's room for her and Jess."

"Don't remind me," Luke groaned, coming around the counter to kiss Lorelai before she left. "There are six bedrooms in that house! Why can't Rory stay in her room, and Jess stay in one of the other three guest rooms? Or even April's room? I'm sure she wouldn't mind, she won't be here for another month anyway."

"Luke, they're adults, they live together in Manhattan, meaning they sleep in the same room in the same bed every night," she stated as Luke put his arms around her waist, and she wrapped hers around his neck. "We can't just invite them here for the weekend and then tell them 'oh, by the way, you have to sleep in separate rooms.' They won't go for it."

"But they're staying under our roof with our rules!" He exclaimed

"Luke," she began calmly. "I realize you still see Rory as that little ten-year-old girl sometimes, or even the 17-year-old girl who was hurt by Jess on multiple occasions, but things have changed, they have both matured.

"You're right…I just know what Jess is capable of," Luke replied.

"Was."

"What?"

"What Jess _was_ capable of," she corrected. "I know I've never been his biggest supporter, but he's not that stupid kid anymore. But he's grown so much since he lived in Stars Hollow, he's got a career going, he's going to Columbia, making good grades, and he loves our girl more than I ever thought he was capable of loving anyone. Stop underestimating him. Stop underestimating yourself."

"What do I have to do with this?"

"You guided him through some of the toughest years of his life, Luke," she smiled up at him, still standing in his embrace. "He looks up to you, and even though it took him awhile, he learned a lot from you. He's the man he is today thanks to you."

"I wouldn't go that far…"

"I would," she replied quietly before leaning in to kiss him.

"What would I do without you?" Luke smiled.

"You would lead a dull existence, my friend," she patted his chest with both of her hands. "I better go. I will see you this afternoon."

"See you later," he replied, pulling her in for one more kiss before she left.

Lorelai walked out of the diner toward the home she shared with Luke. By the time the two of them finally found themselves on the same page, the Twickham House had sold. But Luke managed to snag a newer home Lorelai had showed interest in. Even though moving out of the Crap Shack had taken its emotional toll on her, she had grown to love their home over the years. The new house had been Luke's gift to her, so that made it special. They were able to give April her own room when she came to visit. The space above the garage was accessible from inside the house, it included a kitchenette, living area, a bathroom and two additional bedrooms. Luke used this space as his "man cave," but one of the bedrooms was designated as Rory's, and when she visited, it was her space. That also left two extra rooms for the family additions they had hoped for. And a study that could easily be converted into another bedroom, which Luke often pointed out. In his early years, he couldn't imagine having children at all, but once he and Lorelai got together, everything changed. He wanted to fill the house up with children. Lorelai was constantly reminding him that they had Rory, Jess and April to consider when it came to the study. It was full of books, and the majority of their time at the house was spent in that room.

Some days, Lorelai could vividly imagine children running all through the house, squealing and giggling. Other days, her outlook was rather bleak. She had already suffered one miscarriage since she and Luke married nearly two years ago, and was currently undergoing fertility treatments as they struggled conceiving. It was hard for her to remain hopeful, and like today, when Luke—or anyone—brought up the subject of babies and being pregnant, she would subtly change the subject. The times Luke would catch her trying to change the subject, and pointed it out to her, the conversation usually ended in a fight. Their marriage hadn't always been easy, but they both agreed it was something worth fighting for.

While they were constantly trying to get pregnant, they didn't always take the time to actually make love. Last night had been both. Everything fell into place and it was absolutely perfect. Even though it would be too early to tell if they conceived this morning or the night before, Lorelai couldn't help but feel that with the way things were going, maybe she was already pregnant prior to the night before. There weren't many symptoms, except the bout of nausea at the inn yesterday morning. And then there was the dizziness she felt in the shower this morning, but she attributed that to taking a shower with her amazing husband.

With all of these thoughts swirling through her head on her walk home, Lorelai was bolting up the stairs to the master bedroom before the front door was completely closed. Luckily, she kept a stash of pregnancy tests. Most of the time, she kept her husband in the loop when it came to every aspect of their infertility journey. But sometimes, she didn't want to get his hopes up, as she did hers. She hoped to spare his heartache at the risk of hers.

* * *

When Luke arrived home later that afternoon, he pulled his truck into the garage next to the Armada he finally convinced Lorelai to purchase. Even though Lorelai preferred driving her Jeep, and Luke his truck, they benefitted from having a larger vehicle, especially when the girls and Jess were in town.

"Lorelai, you home?" He called out when he stepped into the house, but there was no reply. "Lorelai!"

Assuming she was getting ready and probably didn't hear him come in, Luke made his way up the stairs to their bedroom. When he stepped into their room, he was sent into immediate panic at the sight before him. Lorelai was curled into a ball on the bed facing away from him, he could hear her quiet sobs as he watched her entire body tremble.

"Lorelai," he rushed to her side, kneeling down next to the bed, looking her over to make sure she wasn't visibly hurt, and startling Paul Anka, who was lying in the chair in the corner. "What happened?"

When she failed to reply, Luke began to wrack his brain as to what could have happened. As he glanced toward the bathroom, something caught his eye…the pregnancy test box laying on the vanity. His heart sank. Another negative pregnancy test. He wasn't sure it was worth it anymore. Month after month they got their hopes up, only to have them dashed by a little plastic stick. Sure, he was heartbroken, but the hurt he saw in his wife's eyes every month pained him more than anything. He wasn't sure he could handle seeing her go through this much longer.

Scooting her over a little, Luke sat down on the bed next to his wife and began to stroke her hair. He leaned down to press a kiss to her temple.

"I love you more than anything in the world, Lorelai," he whispered softly. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" She questioned, sniffling as she looked at him. "I thought you wanted this."

Luke's brow furrowed as he gave her a confused look. She didn't say anything, but revealed the pregnancy test she was clutching tightly in her hand. She put it in his hand as she sat up, tears still streaming down her face.

He reluctantly look down at the test. There it was, clear as day. _Pregnant._

* * *

 **Please let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter One

**Thanks guys for your interest in this story! I hope you continue to enjoy it as much as I've loved writing it. We're going to dig a little deeper in this chapter.**

 **Chapter 1**

"Lorelai!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms around her. "You're pregnant!"

"I know," she replied tearfully.

"But you're crying," he added, placing his hands on her shoulders so he could look her in the eye.

"I know," she repeated.

"What's wrong?" Luke wondered.

"I don't know if I can do this, Luke," she cried.

"Lorelai, you raised a strong, smart, beautiful, independent daughter—on your own, I might add. I might be biased, but I think she's damn near perfect. I know times are different now, but you're still going to be the best mom any kid could ask for," he assured her.

"No…I mean I can't handle another miscarriage," she replied. "The last miscarriage nearly killed me, I don't think I can go through that again."

"You can't just assume you're going to miscarry, just because it happened then doesn't mean it's going to happen again," he wrapped his arms around her as she cried into his chest. "We've been doing the fertility treatments for eight months now, there's no reason for us to believe this won't be a healthy pregnancy."

"What if I'm just not meant to be pregnant?" Lorelai asked. "What if it's my fault I can't carry a baby to term?"

"If you weren't meant to be pregnant, you wouldn't be pregnant now," he reminded her. "And you know it's not your fault, the specialists have told us a million times over that the first trimester is the most critical, anything can happen, there's nothing you did or didn't do that led to that miscarriage."

He hated seeing her like this, so broken. She wasn't the quirky, upbeat woman he fell in love with. He still loved her more than life itself, and always would no matter what, but every time she went into her 'dark place' as she called it, it killed him to know there was nothing he could do except give her time, and be there when she needed him. He knew the infertility journey had taken an emotional toll on her like nothing before, but—with the exception of the miscarriage—she had never let him see how much it affected her.

"I want to be able to give you a baby, Luke, I'm just not sure it's possible," she placed her arms securely around his waist, as if she were holding on for dear life.

"Lorelai, whether we have a baby together or not, that's not going to make me love you any less," Luke assured her. "And we're not going to worry about the 'what ifs,' I know you're panicking right now, and that's totally justified, but deep down, I know you're as excited as I am about being pregnant."

"I'm scared," she murmured into his tear-stained flannel shirt.

"Me too," he whispered, hugging her tightly as he placed his chin on her head. "But we've been through so much together already, and I know we can take on anything together."

"I love you, Luke."

"I love you too," he replied as she sat up and began wiping the tears from her eyes. "You okay?"

"I will be," she nodded, leaning in to kiss her husband, catching a glimpse of the clock hanging on the wall. "Oh my gosh, we're going to be late picking up Rory and Jess! And then we'll be late for dinner!"

"We aren't going to be late for dinner, we will just miss drinks, which you can't have now anyway, and we will be there long before dinner," Luke reminded her, placing the pregnancy test on the bedside table. "We'll call Rory on our way to Hartford."

"I better go fix my makeup," Lorelai said, grabbing a tissue as she stood up.

"I'm going to jump in the shower," Luke said, going into his closet to get some clean clothes.

Once they were on their way, they called Rory to let her and Jess know they would be running a little late.

Most of their ride was spent in a comfortable silence. They had talked a little more about the pregnancy, and Luke could tell she was beginning to become excited about being pregnant. He wished he could promise her that everything would be okay, but the truth was, he couldn't. He could only hope and pray that in about 8 months, they would be welcoming their son or daughter into the world. He was scared, but he knew Lorelai needed him to be strong.

"Just to make sure we're on the same page…nothing about the pregnancy at dinner," Lorelai said as Luke turned on the street that the train station was on. "I really don't want to tell anyone yet, I know we told Rory and April early on in the first pregnancy, but I don't want to get their hopes up."

"We don't have to tell April, but I know you won't be able to keep it from Rory," Luke replied. "You'll be lucky if you can make it to your parents' house without telling her."

"I can and I will," she told him defiantly.

"Then I won't say anything to her," he assured her.

"You can't tell Jess either, Luke," she pointed out as she flipped the vanity mirror down to make sure her makeup was as it should be.

"I won't tell Jess!" He exclaimed, pulling into a parallel parking spot in front of the station.

Lorelai jumped out of the SUV to look for her daughter on the sidewalk.

"Mom!" Rory squealed through the crowd when she spotted her.

Lorelai looked up to see her daughter rushing toward her, as Jess tried to keep up with her.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Lorelai squealed as she threw her arms around her daughter once she was within reach.

"I'm so happy to see you too," Rory replied, dropping her bags to return the hug.

Luke and Jess maintained their masculinity, while still relaying the same sentiment as the women in their lives.

When Rory and Lorelai finally let go of each other, Rory came to Luke for a hug, while Lorelai put an arm around Jess and watched her daughter reunite with Luke.

"How's work?" Lorelai asked.

"Good," he answered.

"And school?"

"Also good."

"And life?"

"Life is great," Jess confirmed.

His answers remained short, as they were when he was a teenager. But now—as an adult—the cockiness in his tone was nowhere to be found. Lorelai smiled as she realized how much Jess, reminded her of Luke when they first met 14 years earlier.

"Are we ready to go?" Lorelai asked, leaning down to pick up two of the bags Rory had discarded on the sidewalk.

"I'll get those," Luke scrambled to take the bags from his wife.

Jess and Rory exchanged glances with each other over the pair.

"No need to fight over my bags," Rory commented, taking Jess' hand as they made their way to the back of the SUV to load their things. "I'll be here until Tuesday, you both have plenty of time to be at my beck and call until then."

"Hey! It's my birthday, and I'm—uh, everyone is supposed to be at my beck and call," Lorelai argued, Luke smiled as he caught her near confession.

"I'm at your beck and call every day…it's Rory's turn while she's here," Luke replied, shutting the back of the SUV after he and Jess had loaded everything into the back while Rory and Lorelai got into the front.

"Are we trying to break a record for the most times the phrase 'beck and call' can be used in a one conversation?" Jess wondered as he got into the back seat with Rory.

Once they were all in the vehicle, Luke headed toward the Gilmore Mansion. Lorelai reached across the console and laced her fingers with his. This action did not go unnoticed by Rory, who smiled at the gesture as she rested her head on Jess's shoulder.

"So you guys were late…any particular reason why?" Rory questioned.

"No, we just—"

"I couldn't get away from the diner in time, and I didn't want to go to your grandparents' house smelling like a deep fryer," Luke interjected, glancing over at Lorelai.

"Good call," Jess quipped, knowing all too well how critical Richard and Emily could be.

"Nothing to be concerned about?" Rory continued her interrogation.

"No," Lorelai answered, turning to look at her daughter. "Why?"

"A girl can't worry about her parents?" Rory's head came up from Jess' shoulder.

"Not when there's no reason to worry," Lorelai countered.

"Okay then," she shrugged, she didn't have to energy to push.

Luckily, Emily and Richard were too interested in what was going on in Rory's life to question why they had missed cocktail hour. Lorelai was thankful that she hadn't began to experience pregnancy symptoms in full swing yet. She knew it wouldn't be good if the birthday dinner she had requested made her nauseous. Her mother would not have been pleased, and her daughter would have known right off what the issue was.

"Did you like your birthday dinner, Lorelai?" Emily asked as the maid was clearing the dishes.

"Yes, it was delicious," she answered before taking a sip of her water.

"Good, I'm glad all of you were able to make it, I do miss all of us getting together for family dinners," Emily smiled, glancing at Richard across the table, who nodded in return.

"Lorelai," Richard spoke up as he reached into the pocket inside his suit jacket. "Your mother and I were unsure of what to get you, but finally settled on this…"

Lorelai took the card from her father. "You didn't have to get me anything," she told them as she opened the card.

Before she could begin to read it, a business card fell out. She recognized the name as the business her parents bought a timeshare through for their jet.

"This better not be what I think it is," Lorelai said, thinking they had either given her the timeshare or bought her a private jet, neither of which she needed.

"Just open the card, Lorelai," Emily said.

"Yeah, open it Mom," Rory added anxiously.

Lorelai read over the card from her parents, then opened it, out fell a piece of legal paper. She finished reading the card before unfolding the piece of paper to read it.

"A deed?" She glanced up at her parents, then back to the paper in her hand. "To the lake house in New Hampshire."

Lorelai looked back and forth between her parents.

"Well…do you like it?" Richard asked.

"Wh—I…" Lorelai had tears in her eyes that she had no idea where they were coming from. This wasn't something she normally cried over. Yet here she was, on the verge of crying.

"We know how much you and Luke enjoyed being there over Labor Day weekend last year," Emily said. "And we don't have much use for it, except to get away for a few days. We can always go to Martha's Vineyard for that."

"And we know how much Luke likes to fish…the house is much more your pace than ours," Richard added.

Lorelai's eyes met Luke's as she was still in shock. He smiled warmly in return. It was too much, but it was her birthday gift, he wasn't in a spot to object.

"I can't accept this…it's too much," she finally spoke up, looking to her parents.

"It most certainly is not!" Emily shrieked.

"Now Lorelai, I realize you feel that this is an extravagant gift, but think of it as a favor to us," Richard tried to reason with his daughter. "If you don't take it, we will have to meet with a realtor and get it ready to sell again, which is something I would rather not do."

"So it's a win-win," Rory quipped.

She and Jess had also joined the rest of the family at the lake house for Labor Day, and she absolutely fell in love with the area. The house was upscale, yet rustic. It had the outdoorsy aspect for Luke, while Lorelai still had the comforts of civilization in the middle of nowhere. She knew how much her mom loved the house, and hoped she would accept it.

"Can we accept this?" Lorelai asked Luke.

"If it's what you want, I won't object," Luke assured her.

She looked back to her parents. "Why did you give me this business card?"

"Well, as you know, we have the timeshare on the jet, so I wanted to make it available to you, so you can fly up there on a whim," Emily answered.

"But we can drive up there, Mom," Lorelai pointed out.

"Right, but it's a four-hour drive, that's a waste of time that could be spent at the lake," Emily said.

Lorelai knew she wasn't going to win, she would accept the house, and agree with her mother about the jet, but they would take the time to drive up there when they decided to go.

"Thank you," she smiled, looking from her mom to her dad. "And you're right, I love that house."

"Good, I'm glad you like it," Richard told her, pulling the keys from his pocket and handing them to her. "Happy Birthday."

"Penelope, you may bring the cake out now," Emily said to the maid, who disappeared into the kitchen.

"Do I get to blow out my candles this year?" Lorelai asked her mother.

"That's for children," Emily told her.

"But I want to blow out my candles," Lorelai argued. "It's _my_ birthday."

"Emily, let her blow out her candles if it's what makes her happy," Richard said, Lorelai had a satisfied smirk on her face, as Emily's mouth gaped open.

Following his heart attack in 2007, Richard had become more compassionate toward his daughter and began to take Lorelai's side in arguments between her and Emily. She wasn't sure how the heart attack had caused that, but she liked it. Mostly because it frustrated her mother to no end.

Emily rolled her eyes as she let out a sigh, but didn't say another word.

When Penelope brought the cake into the dining room, Rory began singing happy birthday. Just as they were finishing up, Lorelai made a wish and blew out the candles before her mother had a chance to order the maid to whisk the cake off to kitchen to cut it.

"Are you happy now?" Emily asked with a smugly.

"Yes, very," Lorelai grinned widely.

After having cake and visiting with Richard and Emily a little longer, Rory tried to suppress a yawn, but Lorelai caught her and decided to use that as their out.

"We better get you home, hun," she said to her daughter. "You and Jess have both had a pretty full day."

"I'm okay," Rory argued, not wanting to be rude to her grandparents.

"Your mother's right, you should get home and rest," Richard replied, placing his napkin on the table as he stood. "Your grandmother and I will be in Stars Hollow on Monday night for your mom's birthday."

"You're leaving Tuesday?" Emily asked as the rest of them began to get up from the table.

"Yes, Tuesday afternoon," Rory nodded.

"Good, then we will get to see you again at your mother's birthday party before we head to Europe for the summer," Emily told her as she clapped her hands together.

"I thought you hated going to Europe in the summer," Lorelai said as they got to the front door.

"I did, but after Rory and I went a few years ago, I realized how much we were missing out on, and I convinced your father that we needed to go," Emily explained.

"So you'll be gone all summer?" Rory asked.

"We'll be back around the end of July," Emily told her.

"Okay, well I will see you on Mom's birthday then," Rory hugged her grandparents.

Nearly an hour later, Rory sunk into the living room couch at her mom and Luke's house, as Lorelai came in from the garage in a huff.

"What's wrong with you?" Rory asked.

"They wouldn't let me help," Lorelai replied, plopping down in the plush armchair and crossing her arms across her chest as Paul Anka came running into the living room and going straight to Rory.

"Hi Paul Anka!" She greeted the canine as he jumped up on the couch.

"Paul Anka, get down," Luke said as he walked into the kitchen after helping Jess carry his and Rory's things upstairs.

"He's okay, he's just telling me he missed me," Rory smiled.

"He's not supposed to be on the furniture," Lorelai reminded her.

"Oh!" Rory exclaimed as she lightly began pushing the dog out of her lap. "Get down Paul Anka."

The dog jumped down and scurried off toward the dog door that led into the backyard.

"Can I get you anything?" Luke offered as he went to the refrigerator to get himself a bottle of water as Jess walked over to sit down next to Rory on the couch.

"Luke, how many times do I have to remind you that we're not guests?" Rory asked her stepfather. "You don't have to wait on us."

"I know, but I was coming over here anyway," he said, grabbing a bottle of water for himself. "Anything?"

"No thanks," Rory answered.

"I'm good," Jess added, crossing the room to sit next to Rory on the couch.

"Babe?" He asked Lorelai.

"I'm fine," she mumbled.

"Fine," he grumbled, shutting the refrigerator door.

Lorelai had been in a good mood on the way home. When they pulled into the driveway, she had pulled her hand away from Luke's, and he noticed her demeanor change. It was obvious that she was thinking about this afternoon. He knew he only made things worse when he wouldn't allow her to help them carry things to Rory's room. He hadn't let Rory help either.

"Oh shoot! I didn't get to finish making the bed in your room!" Lorelai exclaimed as she jumped up from her seat.

"I'll take care of it," Luke put his water on the breakfast table and hurried over to stop her. "You just sit here and spend time with Rory and Jess. _Relax._ "

"Luke, I'm fine, I'm not a china doll!" She spat. "You're the one who needs to relax!"

Rory and Jess exchanged a glance as Lorelai brushed past Luke, heading to Rory's room.

"I'll go help her," Rory said quietly as she got up.

Luke stood in the living room, hands on his hips, staring at the floor pensively. When Rory got past him, she turned back to Jess, waving to get his attention, then pointing at Luke, silently telling him to talk to him.

Rory crossed through the mud room to the stairs that led to the space above the garage.

* * *

"What was all that about?" Rory asked as she got upstairs to find her mom already pulling the bedding out of the linen closet.

When Lorelai closed the closet door, Rory caught a glimpse of her face before she quickly turned toward the bedroom, and could tell she was crying.

"Mom?" She followed her into her bedroom.

"Can you get that side?" Lorelai asked as she began putting the fitted sheet over the mattress pad.

Rory helped her mom make the bed in silence. When they were finished with the bed, Lorelai started putting pillows in pillowcases.

"Mom, stop," Rory said, putting her hand on her mom's arm. "I can do that before we go to bed. What's going on?"

Lorelai tried to fight the tears as her bottom lip began to quiver. She dropped the pillow as she sat down on the end of the bed.

"I'm pregnant," she cried with her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands.

"Mom," Rory let out a sigh of relief. She stifled a laugh, all of the horrible scenarios going through her mind, her mom being pregnant was not one of them. That explained the mood swings and Luke not letting her carry stuff. Rory put an arm around her mom, resting her head on her shoulder. "A baby…that's a good thing. Right?"

"I just don't want to lose this one like I did the other one," Lorelai said.

"Oh Mom," Rory wrapped both arms around her mom, as Lorelai buried her face in her daughter's shoulder, sobs overcoming her body. "It's going to be okay."

"You don't know that," she told her.

"Hey," Rory frowned, pushing her mother away from her to look her in the eye. "This isn't the Lorelai Gilmore who raised me. The Lorelai Gilmore I know is strong and too hard-headed to give up on anything. She doesn't wallow in self-pity, she fights like hell in everything she does. So if you're not that Lorelai Gilmore, I suggest you go find her and bring her back to us."

"I'm trying," Lorelai murmured as she looked at her hands in her lap.

"I'm not going to let you wallow," Rory told her, putting her hands on Lorelai's cheeks, forcing her to look at her. "You're pregnant! You can't think about the what-ifs…you've been on fertility treatments for the last eight months, and the doctors have told you there's no reason this can't be a completely healthy pregnancy. Enjoy being pregnant."

"When did you get so smart?" Lorelai finally cracked a smile, though there were still tears in her eyes.

"Probably somewhere around the time the cost of my college education reached six figures," Rory replied.

"What was all that about?" Jess questioned his uncle.

"She's just stressed," Luke replied, sitting down in the chair his wife had vacated moments before.

"Anything you want to talk about?" He asked, not wanting to push.

"No, it's just…" Luke hesitated a moment, but before he knew it, he was blurting it out. "Lorelai's pregnant."

"Congratulations," Jess said. "So that was just a mood swing?"

"Maybe…we just found out this afternoon," Luke replied. "She's afraid she's going to miscarry and she's letting fear takeover instead of letting herself be excited."

"So the chances of that happening again are high?" He wondered.

"No, but since she miscarried last time, she's convinced it will happen again," Luke explained, taking a drink of his water.

"Then why was she even trying to get pregnant if she's so convinced that will happen?" Jess asked, scooting to the edge of the couch to level with his uncle. "It sounds to me like she's just scared. Give her some time, once the shock wears off, she'll be excited."

"I'm trying," Luke sighed. "And Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't say anything to Rory yet, I'm sure Lorelai has already told her, but we had a bet going on how long she could go without telling Rory," Luke said.

"Yeah right, they can't keep anything from each other," Jess replied. "But I won't say anything."

"Hey Luke?" Rory's voice called from the laundry room.

By the time Luke turned, Rory was stepping into the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"Mom wants to talk to you," Rory smiled, Luke jumped up quickly and headed toward the back staircase. "She's in my room."

Luke took the steps two at a time, anxious to see what she had to say.

"Lorelai?" He called out, going toward Rory's room, when he reached the doorway, he saw her sitting on the bed. "Hey… Rory said you wanted to talk to me."

"Yeah," she said, looking up at him with tears in her eyes, patting the bed next to her. "Sit down."

"Is everything okay?" He asked as he sat down.

Lorelai didn't speak, she just leaned in and kissed him. When they broke for air a few moments later, she finally blurted out what she should've said earlier.

"I'm sorry," she told him as she wrapped her arms around his waist and he slipped an arm around her. "I am so freaked out right now, and I'm taking that out on you, and I'm sorry. I'm excited about being pregnant, but I'm scared as hell. I'm going to stop dwelling on the miscarriage and start focusing on making this the healthiest pregnancy I can."

Luke raised an eyebrow, looking down at her. "The healthiest?"

"Forget it, I'm not going to start eating all that healthy crap you eat," she told him. "We can compromise, but I still get my burgers and fries."

"Fine," Luke agreed. "I love you, Lorelai. I hope you know that I'm just worried about you, that's why I've been hovering. I can't promise I'm going to stop completely, but know that when I do it, it's out of love."

"I know," she nodded. "And I love you too."

"So I'm guessing you told Rory," Luke said, pulling her into his lap as she kissed him again.

"Busted," she grinned.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to keep it from her," Luke laughed and shook his head. "But whatever she said to calm you down, I'm grateful."

"She's a good kid," Lorelai said.

"The best," Luke corrected as Lorelai stood up from his lap. "Where are you going?"

"We better get downstairs before Rory refuses to sleep in this bed," she told him.

"Why would she refuse to sleep in her bed?" He wondered as she tugged on his arm to make him get up.

"If we spend too much time up here alone, she'll think we went all out while making up," Lorelai explained.

"Don't tell me that," he said, snarling his nose at her.

"You asked," Lorelai reminded him as they started down the stairs.

"Everything good?" Rory asked when the pair came into the living room, she had rejoined Jess on the couch.

"Yeah, everything's good," Lorelai answered, sitting down on the arm of the chair while Luke sat down in the chair. "Or it will be."

"Good," Rory smiled.

"So, I'm sure you two are tired, you've had a long day," Lorelai said to them, clapping her hands together.

"Yeah, we were just talking about going to bed, so we can have breakfast at the diner in the morning," Rory answered.

"Well, I had actually planned on fixing breakfast for you guys here," Luke told them.

"But I want breakfast at the diner," Rory pouted.

They had this discussion countless times since Luke started staying the night at the old house all those years ago. Even if he brought the supplies home from the diner and cooked on the griddle he used when camping, they weren't satisfied. It was the same thing, he knew that, but he'd do anything to make his girls happy. He had gotten better at telling Lorelai 'no' during the last few years, but Luke had never been able to tell Rory 'no,' especially when she gave him the puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, we can have breakfast here on Sunday morning, that's the morning you normally take off anyway," Lorelai reminded him.

"I thought I would take the whole weekend off so we can spend time as a family," Luke said.

"Luke, you don't have to do that," Rory told him. "We'll be in and out of the diner all weekend, and you're taking off tomorrow night to go to Sniffy's to celebrate Mom's birthday with Buddy and Maisy. Don't feel obligated to entertain us all weekend."

"Yeah, I can do that on my own," Lorelai quipped.

"You're sure?" Luke asked.

"Of course," Jess added. "I have to go see Liz and them, and I know Rory wants to go see Lane, we have plenty to keep us busy around here too."

"And they're here for me anyway, not you," Lorelai added, playfully hitting his chest.

"Well, since I'm not wanted here, I suppose I'll go to the diner in the morning," Luke said, then looked to his wife. "Oh, don't forget we need to call April in the morning to wish her a happy birthday."

"We will when we come to the diner for breakfast," Lorelai assured him.

"That won't be too late?" Luke asked. "I don't want her to think we forgot."

"Luke, she's 17 and two hours behind us, we'll probably be waking her up when we do call," she replied.

"Right, we'll call her when you get to the diner," Luke agreed.

"Then we will see you in the morning," Rory said, neither she nor Jess moving from their spot on the couch.

"In order to do that, you will need to go to bed," Lorelai teased. "Unless you plan to sleep on the couch."

"That sounds like a solid choice at the moment," Jess replied, closing his eyes.

"Go to bed," Luke told them.

Rory stood up, and started tugging on Jess's arm.

"Come on, let's go to bed," Rory whined. "I'm sleepy."

"Me too," Jess grinned, resisting against Rory.

"Fine, I'm going to bed," she dropped his hand, turning to her mom, kissing her on the cheek. "Night Mom."

"Night hon," Lorelai replied.

"Night Luke," Rory leaned down to hug her stepdad.

"Night Rory," he replied, hugging her back and kissing her cheek. "It's good to have you home."

"Night guys," Jess said as finally he got up to follow Rory upstairs.

"Night," Luke and Lorelai replied in unison.

"I love having them here," Lorelai said as she slid off the arm of the chair into Luke's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing a kiss to his lips.

"Me too," Luke smiled as he snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss. "I also love that they have a separate living space, so I can have you all to myself tonight."

"Me too," Lorelai smiled into the kiss, squealing a little when Luke stood up with her in his arms to carry her upstairs to their bedroom.


	3. Chapter Two

**Thanks for the reviews and the interest in this story!**

 **Chapter 2**

"We have arrived!" Lorelai announced as she, Rory and Jess walked into the diner the next morning.

"Rory!" Miss Patty exclaimed, getting up out of her seat to greet her. "It's good to see you, sweetie."

"It's good to be home," Rory smiled, knowing some things never changed.

"Jess, I assume you're taking good care of her," she shot him a stern look.

"Not that Rory needs to be taken care of, but yes Miss Patty, we're doing well," Jess answered.

It took a lot of time, but between Lorelai and Rory, they finally convinced Stars Hollow that Jess wasn't the same punk teenager he used to be. He still wasn't their favorite, but people like Miss Patty and Babette were polite to him.

Lorelai had walked over to the counter to talk to Luke as Miss Patty began to grill Rory and Jess.

"Morning," she smiled at her husband, who leaned across the counter to kiss her.

"Morning," Luke replied. "It's good to see you smiling again."

"It's good to be smiling again," she agreed. "I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you and Rory to keep me sane."

"That was mostly Rory's doing last night," Luke reminded her. "My feeble attempt before dinner didn't work so well."

"I think it was a team effort," Lorelai said, giving him another quick kiss, remaining in close proximity so she could whisper. "So I was thinking this morning, I need to make an appointment, get all of the initial tests and everything out of the way, make sure everything is good. It's a bunch of boring stuff, but—"

"I wanna go," he nodded as Babette came into the diner, her focus going straight to Rory.

"You'll be bored out of your mind, Luke," she argued.

"I want to go," he repeated, looking her straight in the eyes for emphasis.

"Okay," she smiled happily. "Is there any day that works better for you or doesn't work for you?"

"No, just let me know a few days ahead so I can make sure Cesar will be here," he replied, leaning in to kiss her.

"Mom," Rory called, when Lorelai turned, Rory and Jess were sitting down at a table.

"Coming," Lorelai said, turning back to her husband with a hopeful smile. "Coffee?"

"Lorelai…"

"Luke, one cup isn't going to hurt," she whispered. "We've been over all the studies a million times."

"But you have to promise you won't be going to the Dragonfly or Weston's or anywhere else to get more," Luke muttered.

"I promise," she assured him, he shot her a knowing glance. "I do! We'll talk about it later."

Lorelai turned to sit down with Rory and Jess as Luke got cups and coffee to bring to their table.

After finishing breakfast, Rory and Lorelai had planned to visit Sookie, but wanted to be in on the phone call to April, wishing her a happy birthday.

"Luke, we need to call April before Rory and I leave," Lorelai said.

"Okay," he grabbed the cordless phone and went over to the table as he dialed the number then put the phone on speaker as he sat down, holding the phone in the middle of the table as it began to ring.

"Hello?" April answered groggily.

"Happy Birthday!" Luke, Lorelai and Rory exclaimed, as Jess' wishes were a little less enthusiastic.

April's giggle came from the other end of the line, "Thank you!"

"Sorry to wake you up, sweetie," Lorelai apologized as she elbowed Luke.

"It's okay, I shouldn't waste away my birthday sleeping," April replied. "Did I hear more than you and Dad there?"

"Yeah, Rory and Jess are here," Luke answered.

"Hey April, how does it feel to be 17?" Rory asked

"Not much different than 16 thus far," April answered. "I can get into an R-rated movie on my own now though."

"You could've done that before by sneaking in," Jess told her.

"Jess!" Luke reprimanded.

"It's okay Dad, I don't have a habit of going to R-rated movies anyway," April said.

Rory looked around the diner as she pulled a pen out of her purse, seeing that it was empty, she knew it was safe. Luke continued talking to his daughter. She wrote the word 'baby' with a question mark on a napkin, waving at her mom, then holding it up while pointing to the phone. Lorelai shook her head no, indicating they weren't going to tell April yet. Rory nodded in understanding.

"Did you get our gifts?" Lorelai asked.

"I did, just last night! The laptop from you and dad, which I needed for school, and the bracelet and iTunes gift card from Rory and Jess," April confirmed. "Thank you, I love them all."

"Good, your mom told us your old laptop was far outdated and didn't do everything you needed it to do for school," Luke replied.

"The guy at the store said the MacBook should last you through college," Lorelai added.

"I still have mine from college, it's a little outdated, but still works like a charm," Rory added.

"Yeah, they are a lot better than regular PCs," April agreed. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Luke smiled.

"When are you coming to visit next?" Rory asked her.

"I'm not sure, I'll be there for six weeks during my summer break, but I'd really like to come visit for a weekend before then," April replied.

"Well, text me if you figure out a weekend before summer, I'll try to come see you," she said. "And if not, I'll definitely see you when you're here for your break, maybe you can come stay in the City with me and Jess."

"I'd love that!" April answered happily.

"Well sweetheart, we'll let you get back to your day," Luke said. "Have a great birthday."

"Thanks Dad," she replied.

They all said their goodbyes, and the four wished April a happy birthday once again before ending the call. Luke went back to prepping for the lunch rush as Lorelai, Rory and Jess sat at the table talking.

"Are we ready to go to Sookie's?" Rory asked her mom.

"Yeah, I texted her this morning, they'll be home all day, your Godson can't wait to see you and Audrey is ready to meet her Godmother," she smiled. "The pictures she posted last week on Facebook don't do them justice, you're going to be amazed at how much the four of them have grown."

By the time their third child, Ethan Rupert Belleville, arrived in August 2007, Sookie had given in to the idea of having the four kids Jackson originally wanted. They decided to wait awhile before trying for baby number four. It wasn't until March 2010 that Audrey Eleanor Belleville made her debut. Sookie and Jackson had decided Lorelai would be Ethan's Godmother, as she was for Martha. And once Audrey arrived, they named Rory her Godmother.

"I can't wait to see them, and meet Audrey," Rory said happily. "Jess, are you going with us?"

"No, I think I might hang out here for awhile, help Luke, or go back to the house," he answered. "If that's okay…"

"Yeah, it's fine," she replied. "When are you going to go see your mom?"

"I thought I'd go see her tomorrow sometime," he said. "You wanted to go with me, right?"

"Yeah, of course," she nodded, then turned back to her mom. "Are you ready to go now?"

"Yeah, we can go now," Lorelai replied. "Let me just tell Luke we're going."

Rory looked to Jess, "I guess I'll see you later."

"Have fun," Jess replied. "Tell Sookie and Jackson I say hi."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Rory asked again. "It'll be a lot of fun."

"I'm good, I would prefer not being used as a human jungle gym again," Jess told her, recollecting Thanksgiving when the Belleville children decided to climb all over him, insisting he was their pony. When he finally gave up and collapsed on the floor with Martha on his back, they all continued to climb all over him.

"Right, I'll see you later then," she leaned in to kiss him goodbye as Lorelai returned and they began walking toward Sookie's.

"That was nice of you to invite April to the city this summer," Lorelai said. "I'm glad you two have a good relationship even though you're on different sides of the country."

"Me too," Rory replied. "So I thought you would tell her about the baby…"

"Yeah, I really don't want to get her hopes up again, she was so excited the first time around," Lorelai told her as they crossed the street. "I just feel like for right now, it's best that we keep it between the four of us, I may tell Sookie, but that's it. If it doesn't work out, I don't want to have to deal with the whole town feeling like they have to walk around on egg shells around me. It's bad enough having you guys do that."

"Gee thanks," Rory frowned

"You know what I mean," Lorelai said. "Luke and I discussed it, we just want to make sure everything is going to be okay before we tell anyone else."

"Even Grandma and Grandpa?" Rory asked.

" _Especially_ Grandma and Grandpa," she groaned.

"They won't hear it from me," she assured her.

"Thanks kid," Lorelai smiled, putting her arm around her daughter as they walked through the gate at Sookie and Jackson's.

"Rory!" Davey squealed as he came running down the front porch.

"Hi Davey," Rory knelt down to hug the boy when he came running into her arms. "How are you?"

"Good," he grinned, revealing he had a tooth missing.

"How much did you get for that tooth?" Rory asked, standing up and taking Davey's hand as they walked into the house.

"Two dollars!" He exclaimed.

"That tooth fairy is rich these days," Lorelai commented. "Davey, where's your mommy?"

"Upstairs getting Ethan dressed," he answered, going over to the bottom of the stairs. "Mom! Rory and Aunt Lola are here!"

"Buddy, don't yell at her," Lorelai told him, knowing her friend was overwhelmed. "Sookie, take your time, we can wait."

"I'll be down in a minute," Sookie replied. "Audrey is asleep in my room if you want to go get her."

"I'll get her for you," Davey offered, going toward his parents' room to get his sister.

"No Davey, she's sleeping, we'll leave her alone for awhile," Lorelai quickly grabbed the boy around the waist to hold him back, carrying him over to the couch while tickling him.

"Sorry guys, Jackson had a vegetable emergency, so we've been a little slow at getting around this morning," Sookie told them as she came down the stairs holding Ethan's hand as Martha followed them.

"Aunt Lola!" Martha squealed, running to Lorelai.

"Hi Princess," Lorelai grinned, picking the girl up and hugging her tightly.

"No worries Sookie, you know we don't mind," Rory said, hugging her mom's best friend. "You've got your hands full."

"Tell me about it," Sookie agreed as they sat down in the living room. "Martha and Ethan have both been so clingy lately."

"Enjoy it while you can, because soon they move to a land far away where you never hear from them," Lorelai said, feigning a whisper as Martha climbed out of her lap to run around the living room with her brothers.

"Hey!" Rory pretended to be offended. "I call you like three times a week, if not more!"

"I know, and I love you for that," Lorelai replied, putting an arm around Rory and holding her close.

The three kids were running around the living room screaming and giggling as they played.

"Guys, can you give Mommy some time alone with Aunt Lorelai and Rory?" Sookie asked her children, they just looked at her.

"Is your playroom a mess?" Lorelai asked them, they nodded. "Come here so I can tell you a secret that Mommy can't know."

"Lorelai…" Sookie cautioned.

The three kids came over to her quickly with grins in anticipation of knowing something their mom wasn't allowed to know.

"If you can get your playroom clean before Rory and I leave, I'll share my birthday cake with you," Lorelai whispered.

"Is Mommy making it?" Martha asked, her eyes wide.

"She sure is," Lorelai smiled, glancing to her best friend, who had agreed to bake the birthday cake for the celebration Luke wanted to throw at the house on her actual birthday.

"Yay!" Davey and Martha squealed, Ethan quickly joined in, even though he was unaware of what they were cheering for.

"But you have to clean the playroom first," Lorelai reminded them.

"Okay!" Davey exclaimed.

"Come on Ethan," Martha said, taking her little brother by the hand as they took off to the playroom.

"You're terrible," Sookie giggled. "They're going to get cake anyway."

"But it gets them out of your hair for a while," she grinned.

"So Rory how are things going in the big city?" Sookie asked

"Great, I got that promotion at work a couple months ago, I'm sure Mom told you about," Rory began, Sookie nodded her head as Lorelai smiled proudly. "Between that and how well things are going for Truncheon, Jess and I were able to move into the penthouse that Grandma and Grandpa own. Of course we don't pay them what we should, but they wouldn't take more. So it's nice having a bigger space."

"How's work and Jess' studies?" She asked.

"Good, we're both so busy though," Rory replied. "Jess is doing great in school, he's still maintaining a 4.0, and he loves it there. And with Truncheon's success comes more time spent at the office for him. Luckily, the office isn't far from Columbia, so he's able to go there between classes. Other than not seeing much of each other except on weekends, we are extremely happy there."

"Wow, he must be working hard to keep that kind of GPA and hold down a job at the same time," Sookie marveled. "And yes, your mom told me about your promotion, we're so proud of you, sweetie."

"Thanks Sookie," Rory smiled modestly.

"Luke and I are so proud of both of them, they're working so hard," Lorelai added, placing her hand on top of Rory's head, shaking it a little.

"You have every right to be proud, you've raised Rory to be such a strong, independent woman, she never gave up on that big goal of working for the New York Times," Sookie said. "And even though I didn't have much hope for Jess when he first came to town, Luke was able to guide him in the right direction, and he realized his full potential and now he's got a 4.0 at Columbia. You've got two incredible kids."

"What about you? You've got four!" Rory grinned. "They're getting so big!"

"They are, they're growing up too fast," Sookie told them.

As if on cue, tiny cries echoed through the baby monitor on the coffee table. Sookie began to get up, but Lorelai stopped her.

"I'll go get her," she said, getting up and going into Sookie and Jackson's room to get the baby.

When she returned, she had calmed the baby down momentarily, but Sookie had taken the opportunity to go into the kitchen to prepare a bottle, knowing it was time for her to eat.

"You want to hold her?" Lorelai asked as she sat down, Rory nodded in reply.

"Audrey, I want you to meet your godmother, this is Rory," Lorelai said, carefully placing the baby in Rory's arms.

"Hi pretty girl," Rory cooed as the baby gazed around the room, then set her eyes on Rory and cooed quietly. "Hi."

"She's perfect, isn't she?" Lorelai smiled, tears forming in her eyes, but she managed to keep them at bay.

"Yeah," Rory smiled back, then Audrey let out a tiny cry.

"Oh, it's okay sweet girl," Lorelai soothed, allowing Audrey's fingers to wrap around one of her own.

Audrey's cries grew a little more persistent, causing Rory to panic. "H-here, you take her," she said, trying to pass the baby off to Lorelai.

"No, this is your bonding time with your Goddaughter," Lorelai shook her head.

"I didn't have bonding time with Davey and he turned out just fine, he still loves me," Rory argued, now gently bouncing Audrey to calm her.

"But don't you want to feed her?" Lorelai questioned.

"Not if Sookie doesn't hurry," she answered.

"I'm coming," Sookie exclaimed from the kitchen, moments later she returned to the living room, handing the bottle to Lorelai, who held it out to Rory.

Rory quickly took the bottle and offered it to the baby, who quieted down and took it without difficulty.

"See, you got it," Lorelai smiled at her daughter.

After spending most of the day with Sookie, and helping entertain the kids so she could get things done around the house, they decided to go home to get ready to go to dinner at Sniffy's. On their way to the restaurant, Lorelai had a revelation.

"We're going to have to tell Buddy and Maisy that I'm pregnant," she blurted out.

"I thought we weren't going to tell anyone else just yet," Luke glanced over at her a couple times before focusing on the road.

"Well, it's my birthday, and every year on my birthday, she opens a bottle of champagne," Lorelai reminded him. "And I obviously can't have champagne."

"Right," Luke agreed. "So you want to tell them?"

"I mean, they are the closest thing you have to parents, so they deserve to be an exception," Lorelai reached across the console and laced her fingers with his.

Luke smiled at her warmly, bringing their hands to his lips, kissing her knuckles lightly.

As Lorelai suspected, Maisy had a bottle of Lorelai's favorite champagne chilling at their table when they arrived.

"Lucas, Lorelai!" Maisy said, hugging Luke tightly, then turning to Lorelai. "I'm so glad you decided to celebrate your birthday here."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, we celebrate everything here," Lorelai hugged Maisy.

"And Rory and Jess," Maisy smiled warmly, hugging them both at the same time. "How is life in the city treating you?"

"Great," Rory replied. "We're both keeping busy with work, Jess with school, but we're very happy there."

"That's great, sweetheart, I know your mom and Luke are so very proud of you both," she told them. "Buddy and I are too, you're the closest thing we have to grandchildren."

"Well thank you, Maisy, we are pretty fond of you too," Rory said.

"Let me go get Buddy, and some champagne glasses, and I'll be right back, go ahead and have a seat," she told them.

The sat down in the large round booth, but when Maisy returned with Buddy in tow, Luke and Lorelai got back up to hug him.

"Happy Birthday Lorelai," he told her as he hugged her.

"Thank you," she smiled.

"Let's pop open this champagne, shall we?" He asked, grabbing the bottle. "Lorelai, it's your birthday, would you like to do the honors?

"I can open it, I just can't drink it," she replied as she took the bottle and began to open it.

"What? Why?" Maisy asked.

"I'm pregnant," she announced right before the cork popped on the champagne.

Buddy and Maisy's faces lit up, Maisy went straight to Lorelai, throwing her arms around her, and Buddy hugged Luke.

"This is wonderful news!" Maisy exclaimed, releasing her hold on Lorelai, who placed the champagne on the table.

"Congratulations," Buddy said as he hugged Lorelai and Maisy hugged Luke.

"I just found out yesterday, I'm not very far along, but we knew you would know something was up when I didn't drink my favorite champagne," Lorelai said, glancing to Luke when he took her hand. "But after the last miscarriage, we're remaining cautious for the time being."

"Oh honey," Maisy hugged Lorelai once again.

Lorelai fought back tears. Buddy and Maisy always had the perfect response for anything Luke and Lorelai threw at them. The exact reaction she always wished her own parents would give them. Always supportive, no matter what.

Following the miscarriage, Maisy and Buddy had revealed to Luke and Lorelai that infertility was the reason they had no children. Maisy had suffered multiple miscarriages before they were told by a doctor that she would never be able to carry to term. Of course, advances in modern medicine made things a lot different now.

"You have to have hope," Maisy told her, placing her hand's on Lorelai's cheeks, wiping the tears away with her thumbs.

"We do," Lorelai assured her. "It's just a scary time right now."

"I know," Maisy replied, turning to Rory. "Rory, could you take your mama to the restroom and help her fix her makeup?"

"Of course," Rory smiled, pushing Jess out of the booth so she could go with her mom.

"Lucas, pour the rest of you some champagne, I'll get some appetizers for the table, and something non-alcoholic for Lorelai," Maisy told him.


	4. Chapter Three

**Sorry it's taken me a little longer to get this updated! Two of my best friends have birthdays this week, so time has gotten away from me a bit. But I hope you love this chapter. It's been one of my favorites to write thus far. Please let me know what you think!**

 **Chapter 3**

"I have a feeling Mom isn't going to be eating breakfast this morning," Rory said as she came down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"What? Why?" Luke's head snapped up from the blueberry pancakes he was cooking on the griddle to look at his step-daughter.

"Morning sickness," Rory replied, taking a seat on one of the barstools at the kitchen island and taking a sip of the coffee Luke had poured for her before he had asked that she go check on her mom.

Luke panicked. "Can you watch these pancakes?" He asked. "They should be about ready to flip."

Rory also had a moment of panic, her cooking skills had improved over the last few years, but the few times she had attempted to make pancakes, they were either burnt or still gooey in the middle.

"I'll set the timer," he told her, flipping the pancakes, and setting the timer. "All you have to do is take the pancakes off the griddle when it goes off."

"Okay," she agreed, grabbing her coffee mug and taking it around the island to where Luke was manning the pancakes. She took over and Luke took off upstairs.

"Lorelai," Luke called as he entered their bedroom.

"Don't come in here," she replied weakly from behind the bathroom door.

"I'm coming in," Luke told her.

"Luke, no, I don't want you to see—" Lorelai was cut off by Luke barging into the bathroom. "I told Rory not to tell you."

"Well, I'm glad she's an adult and can make her own decisions," Luke said, kneeling down next to where she was leaned against the wall, he pushed back the hair that had fallen out of the messy bun atop her head. "You ready to get back in bed?"

"No, I thought I'd spend the day on our bathroom floor," Lorelai replied sarcastically.

He smiled, glad she wasn't too sick to joke around. "Very funny."

"I was just trying to convince my body to get up and—"

Without hesitation, Luke stood up and scooped her up off the floor and carried her back to bed.

"You didn't have to do that," Lorelai managed a smile.

"Yeah I did," Luke began to pull the covers back up over her. "So I guess the morning sickness has kicked in."

"Guess so," she nodded. "I know you were looking forward to us having breakfast at home this morning, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Rory and I can have a father-daughter breakfast," he waved her off.

Lorelai furrowed her brow, confused. "What about Jess?"

"He's still asleep," Luke explained. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"Do we have any ginger ale?" She asked.

"I think so, I'll go get it," he told her.

When he got back downstairs, Rory had successfully taken the pancakes off the griddle, turned it off and resumed her spot on the barstool, running her bare foot over Paul Anka's furry back as he slept at her feet.

"How is she?" Rory asked.

"Definitely sick," he answered, going to the pantry to find the ginger ale. "I helped her back to bed, I'm going to take her some ginger ale and blueberries to see if that helps."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Can you get a glass of ice?" He asked her as he grabbed a can of ginger ale from the pantry. "And a bowl?"

"Of course," she replied, getting up and taking a glass from the cabinet and filling it with ice, then grabbing a bowl from a different cabinet.

"Thanks for telling me, by the way," he said. "Your mom said she told you not to tell."

"Well, she wouldn't let me do anything to help, I knew you wouldn't give her a choice," Rory smiled as she handed him the glass and bowl.

"I'm going to take this up to her, then we can have breakfast," he said.

"No, you take care of her, I can eat by myself," Rory waved him off.

"I just thought…" he trailed off, taking some of the blueberries from the container on the counter and placing them in the bowl.

"What?"

"It's nothing."

"Luke…"

"It's just…well, I thought we could have a father-daughter breakfast," Luke shrugged.

"Oh! Of course, you go take care of Mom, and I'll set the table, and we'll eat when you come back downstairs," Rory replied.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she grinned.

"Okay, I'll be right back," he said, taking off back upstairs.

When he got back to their bedroom, Lorelai began adjusting her pillows so she could sit up. Luke placed the glass and bowl on the nightstand, opening the can of ginger ale and pouring the contents into the glass, then handing it to her.

"Thank you," she said, taking a sip.

"I brought you some blueberries too," he added, pointing to the bowl on the nightstand. "I figured if you would be up to eating anything, it would be that."

"You would be correct," Lorelai nodded, taking a blueberry from the bowl and putting it in her mouth.

"If there's anything you want me to cook for you, name it," Luke said.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes, now go have your father-daughter breakfast with our girl," Lorelai smiled. "I'll be downstairs in a little bit."

Even though Luke had been a father-figure in Rory's life for most of her life, it still made Lorelai ridiculously happy when Luke went the extra mile to do things like have a father-daughter breakfast or referring to Rory as their daughter instead of his step-daughter.

"Okay," he nodded, kissing her forehead. "I love you."

"Love you too," she replied.

Once he got back downstairs, Rory was at the table with it fully set, ready for them to eat breakfast.

"I've missed your pancakes," Rory said happily, putting two on her plate and covering them in syrup.

"I knew they were your favorite, that's why I got all the stuff to make them," Luke replied, taking a pancake for himself. "You still like your job?"

"I love my job, I'm glad I went on the Obama campaign trail, I would've never made the contacts I made that helped me get the job with the Times," Rory said as they both began to eat. "I wish we could get away to come visit you and Mom more though."

"We do too," Luke said. "We would love to come visit you guys too, but between owning two businesses and all of the doctor's appointments and fertility treatments, it seems like the last few years have flown by."

"It would be nice to be able to get away to the lake house now that it's Mom's," she said, taking a bite of bacon. "I mean, Stars Hollow will always be home and I love visiting here, but just having this time where it's just the four of us, or five when April is here, hanging out at home, or even going out to dinner like last night. Just disconnected from everything like work, school, the diner, the inn."

"I agree, I would love that," Luke said, cutting into his syrup-less pancake. "I don't know how long we could last though."

"True, we're all just so busy, it was a struggle to get away to come here for an extended weekend, and we've been planning this for a while now," Rory said.

"But you and Jess are doing okay?" He asked. "He makes you happy?"

"Of course he makes me happy, he's changed a lot, even in the last year, he's become responsible, he does stuff that he doesn't necessarily want to do, but he does because it's something I want to do," she told him. "Before we moved into this new place, we were struggling a bit when the rent went up at our old place, he was going to take an extra job so I wouldn't have to, even though he had Truncheon and school going."

"How come I didn't know about this?" Luke asked, concerned for her well-being. "Rory, you could've come to us, we would have helped you."

"We're adults Luke, I appreciate the offer, and I know you would do anything to help us out, but it was something we needed to take care of ourselves," Rory told him. "And we did, we took care of it."

"Good, I'm glad to know that he is willing to step up when needed," he said, taking another bite of food. "But if there's anything you need in the future, let us know. We can't have you struggling."

"I know, but that isn't going to teach us anything, I can't run home to Mom and Dad every time I have a problem," she reminded him, Luke's expression softened when she referred to him as 'Dad,' knowing she wasn't referring to Christopher because he had moved to Paris with Sherry over a year ago and they rarely spoke.

"But it will make Mom and Dad feel a lot better," he reminded her with a smile. "You're just like your mom…so independent, determined to do it on your own."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Rory grinned before taking another bite of her pancakes.

"It definitely is," he agreed. "Have you and Jess discussed your future?"

"Like marriage and kids? Or what's going to happen after he finishes at Columbia?" She wondered what he was getting at.

"All of the above, I guess," Luke shrugged. "He's a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kind of guy, but you're a planner, I know you must have some kind of plan, or at least discussed it with him."

"Well, we're both in it for the long haul, we aren't in a huge hurry to get married, but we know we want to, I told him I would leave it up to him on when we got engaged, but I wanted it to be a surprise," Rory explained. "He didn't really want kids at first, but after talking it through, we want one or two, eventually. I know that's definitely something that will wait until after he finishes school."

"Good, that's good," he nodded, taking a napkin to wipe his face. "Is it weird that you're at the age to be thinking about getting married and having kids, but your mom and I are having a baby?"

"Not at all, you and Mom deserve to be happy, I can't wait to have another little brother or sister," Rory said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Mom is the best mom in the world, and you've been more of a father figure than my own father for most of my life, and the fact that you fought so hard to be in April's life proves how great of a dad you are. You're already amazing parents, and my baby brother or sister is going to be so loved."

"Thanks kid," he smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder before pulling her into a brief hug. "I never thought I wanted kids until you and your mom came into my life, even then it took me awhile to realize how much I loved having you around."

"Thanks Luke," she grinned. "And for the record…you never made me feel like you didn't want me around."

"Good," he replied, noticing her coffee mug was almost empty. "You want some more coffee?"

"I'll get it," Rory told him, getting up to pour herself some more coffee. "You wait on us every time we're in the diner, you've cooked breakfast this morning, I can get my own coffee. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm good," he shook his head.

She sat back down at the table. "These pancakes are delicious, by the way," she raved, taking a bite of pancake. "Where do you get blueberries this early in the year? Isn't it too early for them?"

"Jackson grew them in that greenhouse of his," Luke replied. "Your mom will go all the way out to his farm to get some, he had to plant extra plants because of her, so I asked him to bring some by the diner yesterday."

"I'm sure that made her happy," Rory said.

They sat and talked for awhile longer before Rory cleared the table, and they both cleaned the kitchen as Luke wouldn't allow her to do it alone when she offered.

"Does Jess always sleep this late?" Luke asked, looking at the clock in the living room, seeing it was after ten o'clock.

"No, there's never time," Rory explained. "We're both up before the sun during the week, and we usually have so much to do on weekends that there isn't really time to sleep in. I have things to do or he has things to do, and lately, weekends are our only time to be together, so we try to spend as much time as we can together. I figured I'd let him sleep this morning."

Luke smiled as he cleaned the griddle, but remained silent. His smile didn't go unnoticed by Rory.

"What?"

"Nothin'," he paused. "It's just I can't picture the Jess you're describing."

"I'm telling you, he's changed a lot," Rory let out a laugh. "You know we wouldn't be together if he hadn't."

"I know, and I believe you, it's just hard to see him as this sweet and sensitive guy who wants to spend every waking moment with anyone," he said.

"Well, in true Jess fashion, he still doesn't express a lot of his emotions, I have to get him to dig deep to do that, but he can definitely be sweet and sensitive at times," she explained.

"As long as he takes care of you and makes you happy, that's all I'm worried about," he told her.

"He does," Rory assured him, turning to hug Luke. "Thanks for looking out for me."

"Always," he replied, wrapping his arms around her.

Lorelai came into the kitchen to hear Rory thanking him and witness their embrace. She had tears in her eyes as she made her presence known.

"I guess the father-daughter breakfast was a success," she said.

"I'd say so," Rory agreed as she closed up the dishwasher. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I had some ginger ale and those delicious blueberries and I fell back asleep for a little bit," she answered as she sat down on one of the barstools.

"You want some pancakes?" Luke asked, going over and kissing her. "I saved some for you and Jess."

"Not right now, I had those blueberries, I'm not really up for much else," she answered. "Rory, did you try those blueberries? They're life-changing."

"He picked the best ones out and put them in my pancakes," Rory teased.

Lorelai gasped dramatically. "How dare you give the best blueberries to the kid instead of the wife? The wife who is known to be in love with said blueberries! The wife who is carrying your child!"

Luke looked at her smugly, "You know good and well I didn't pick out the best blueberries just to put in Rory's pancakes."

"How am I supposed to know that when I didn't even know there were blueberries in the house, and I didn't get to look at them before they were consumed?" Lorelai questioned.

"See what you did," Luke shot a look at Rory.

"You're welcome," she grinned. "I'm going to get ready so I can go see Lane and the boys."

"So what did you and Rory talk about?" Lorelai stood and put her arms around Luke's neck.

"Just how things are going in New York," Luke shrugged as they went into the family room and sat down on the couch.

"And how are they?" Lorelai replied, pulling her feet underneath her.

"She said things are going well," he nodded, then furrowed his brows as he looked up at her. "Did you know they had some money problems awhile back?"

Lorelai was taken aback by this. "No," she replied. "Like how bad?"

"I'm not sure, I guess they were having trouble making ends meet, Jess was going to get a second job to help," he revealed. "She said they took care of it

"Why didn't they come to us?" Lorelai questioned.

Luke laughed quietly.

"What?" She wondered, he shook his head. "What's so funny?"

"What she said when I asked her that…she sounded just like you," Luke said. "She said that they were adults and she couldn't come running home to Mommy and Daddy every time she needed something."

"Definitely my child," Lorelai giggled. "And Jess is taking good care of her?"

"I guess," he shrugged.

"Stop, you know that was the motivation behind the father-daughter breakfast," she pointed a finger at him accusingly.

"Fine, I did ask her, she loves him…she's _**in**_ love with him," Luke admitted. "She says they've discussed it, and somewhere down the line, marriage and children are on the agenda."

"Whoa," Lorelai gasped. "Like soon?"

"No, she said they're not in any hurry," he replied. "But they're definitely making long term plans together."

"That's good that they've discussed it," she said. "Isn't it funny how you used to have to defend Jess to me, and now I'm having to defend him to you."

"I feel better about it now that I've talked to Rory, and I know that their future means enough to Jess that he would sit down and discuss his feelings with her," he told her.

"I agree," she nodded.

Just then they heard footsteps coming from the hallway that led to the guest apartment.

"Morning," Jess said as he appeared in the kitchen.

"Morning Jess," Lorelai replied. "Are you just now getting up?"

"Yeah, Rory didn't wake me up, and I ended up sleeping most of the morning," Jess said, getting a coffee mug from the cabinet and pouring himself some coffee.

"There are pancakes on the island," Luke told him. "I think Rory ate all the bacon, but I can make some more."

"That's okay, pancakes are fine," he said, grabbing a plate and putting some pancakes on it before going to the table to eat. "Thanks."

"No problem," Luke said, turning back to Lorelai. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, but I think I'm going to get up and get myself some coffee," Lorelai replied, getting up off the couch.

"Lorelai…" he groaned, getting up to follow her.

"Luke," she countered, grabbing a mug and pouring herself some coffee. "I thought we agreed one cup a day…I'll have one cup in the morning, and switch to water, which is the only other thing I really drink."

"And you promise you won't be getting more when you get to the inn?" He asked.

"Honestly Luke…you think I would do something that could cause harm to our unborn child when my pregnancy is already considered high risk?" Lorelai questioned, placing her cup down the counter as she faced her husband.

"No, I know you wouldn't," Luke realized. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried."

"I know…I am too, but even our doctor said it would be okay," she reminded him.

"Okay," he nodded, leaning in to kiss her briefly. "I'm going to go upstairs and shower and then go check in at the diner."

"Okay," she smiled. "I'm going to start some laundry."

"Don't overdo it," Luke replied before they went their separate ways.

A little while later, Rory came down the stairs from the guest suite carrying two gift bags. Jess was rinsing his dishes while Lorelai sat at the breakfast table looking at the paper.

"Hey sweets," Lorelai smiled, looking up from the paper. "What you got there?"

"Gifts for the boys since we weren't able to make it back for their birthday," Rory replied, placing them on the kitchen island. "Jess, you sure you don't want to go with me to Lane's?"

"I'm sure, you and Lane need some time to yourselves," Jess replied as he was putting the dishes in the dishwasher, taking initiative to start it once he saw it was full. "I'm going to stay here and work on that paper."

"Okay," she said, turning to her mom. "Are there any plans for the rest of the day?"

"Not that I know of, Luke is going to check in at the diner, which usually turns into at least an hour or half the day," Lorelai replied. "So I may end up going there for lunch, I'll let you know if I do."

"Thanks," Rory said. "You feeling better?"

"A lot better," Lorelai confirmed. "Do you want to take the Jeep or the Armada?"

"Nah, I can walk, it's not that far," Rory answered, lightly grabbing Jess' arm as he pressed the buttons on the dishwasher to start it. "Kiss."

He leaned in, kissing her briefly. "I love you, have a good day, tell Lane and Zack I say hi."

"Love you too, and I will" she smiled. "Have fun with that paper, maybe we can go see Liz and TJ later."

"I will."

"Bye Mom, I'll see you later," Rory said, grabbing the gift bags, then kissing her mom on the cheek.

"Bye, love you," Lorelai smiled.

"Love you too," she said before walking out the front door.

"Well that was sweet," Lorelai commented to Jess.

"What?"

"'I love you, have a good day,'" she mocked.

"Is there something wrong with that?" He wondered, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"No, it's just not something I would expect from you," she told him. "But it's nice, I'm glad you tell her things like that."

Just then Luke came down the stairs. "Okay, I'm going to run to the diner," he said as he stepped into the kitchen. "Is there anything we need here?"

"I don't think so," Lorelai answered, raising from her seat to kiss him goodbye, but Jess stopped them.

"Actually Luke…do you have a minute?" Jess asked, standing up straight from his former stance.

"Of course, I'm not in any hurry, I just like to check in at least once a day on the days I don't work all day," Luke explained. "What's up?"

"Can we go in the living room and sit down?" He wondered. "I want to ask the two of you something."

Lorelai and Luke exchanged concerned glances.

"Okay," Luke said, taking Lorelai's hand as they made their way into the living room, the two of them sat down on the couch, Jess in the armchair.

"I know our relationship hasn't always been the best, and I've done a lot of things to cause that, a lot of things I regret," he began, letting out a huff of air as he collected his thoughts. "I want you to know that I'm working on being the best person I can be, not only for myself, but for Rory, and the two of you, I want to make you proud…"

"You already are making us proud, Jess," Lorelai pointed out.

"I hope that one day you won't have a single reason to doubt me," he continued. "You still have plenty of reasons now to doubt me, and I don't blame you. But know that I'm working hard to change those things about myself."

"We already see a lot of those changes," Luke said, Lorelai nodded in agreement. "Just having you come to us, sit down and talk to us like a man, speaks volumes."

"I want you to know that I love Rory more than life itself, she means the world to me," he said, clearing his throat as he got a little choked up. "I know I've done a lot of stupid things that have hurt Rory in the past, and luckily, we worked through those things, she forgave me, and I think it's made us stronger in the long run."

"I agree," Lorelai nodded, clutching tightly to Luke's hand, knowing where this conversation was headed.

"More than anything, I want to be the man that Rory deserves. The man that is worthy of being her husband. So I'm coming to you now, asking for your daughter's hand in marriage," he said hopefully, looking to Luke and Lorelai.

Lorelai already had tears running down her cheeks, Luke was working hard to fight back his tears.

"Oh geez, I didn't think you were both going to cry!" Jess exclaimed uncomfortably.

Lorelai looked at Luke and let out a giggle when she realized he had a tear streaming down his face.

"What do you say _Dad_?" She asked him, elbowing him gently.

Luke sighed, quickly wiping away the tear. "Well Jess, even though you gave us hell during the time you spent here, we have seen you grow into an incredible young man," he began. "And I know I give you a hard time, but it's mostly because Rory is basically a daughter to me, and I—we—want what's best for her. We want her to have everything she has ever hoped and dreamed for. When the two of you got back together, as her dad, I was against it, because I was worried you would drag her down again. But as your uncle, I was already so proud of all the things you had accomplished in such a short amount of time."

"And you've continued to make great strides in bettering your life," Lorelai added. "We know how much you love Rory."

"She told me about the financial trouble you two had awhile back," Luke admitted. "First of all, next time that happens, come to us, even if she tells you not to."

"Got it."

"Second of all, she said that you were going to take on another job to help with the bills, even though you had Truncheon and Columbia, you were going to stretch yourself even thinner to fix the problem," he said. "You did exactly what any man who loves his family more than life itself, should do. And I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," he smiled modestly.

"Jess, the fact that you've come to us to ask us for Rory's hand in marriage speaks volumes, the old Jess would've never done this," Lorelai pointed out. "He would've suggested eloping without ever saying a word to us until it was all said and done. But you…you didn't do that, and I think that proves you are worthy of being called her husband."

Luke glanced at Lorelai, who still had tears streaming down her face, she smiled and nodded, then looked back to his nephew. "You have our blessing, Jess."

Jess let out a relieved sigh. "Wow," he said. "Thank you."

The three of them stood, Lorelai hugged Jess tightly, then he and Luke shook hands.

"You're lucky I had a chance to have a little chat with Rory over breakfast this morning, without that, I may have said no," Luke told him.

"I'll have to thank her," he noted. "You know…after I make it past the proposal."

Lorelai jumped up and down a little, clapping her hands joyously. "Do you know when you're going to ask her?"

"Not yet, I have an idea of how I want to do it, but I wanted to ask you guys face-to-face, and this was the first time I've seen you since I got the ring," Jess replied.

"You already have a ring?!" Her eyes widened.

"Yeah, it's hidden back at the house," he answered.

"Jess, I'm so happy for you!" She said, putting her hands on his shoulders and shaking him.

"Are you going to be able to keep this quiet?" He wondered.

"Me?! Of course!" Lorelai exclaimed incredulously. "Why would you even ask that?"

"Because you and Rory can't keep secrets from each other to save your lives," Luke pointed out, getting a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

"I can keep this a secret!" Lorelai argued. "Getting engaged is one of the days a girl dreams about all her life. I wouldn't dream of ruining that for Rory."

"You promise?" Jess asked.

"Pinky promise," she assured him, sticking her pinky out.

Jess rolled his eyes and groaned, turning to walk away.

"You're no fun," Lorelai called out.

"I'll be upstairs if you need me," he said as he kept walking.

When Lorelai turned to seek out Luke, she noticed one of the French doors leading to the covered back porch had been left open. She peeked out to see him with his hands pressed against the porch railing, staring out into the backyard.

"Hey," she said quietly, snaking her arms around his waist from behind and pressing her cheek to his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Just thinking."

"'Bout what?" She asked as he turned around in her arms, putting his own arms around her.

"About Rory," he replied. "I didn't realize how much she considered me a father, I mean, she's a daughter to me just as much as April is, but to have Jess ask both of us for her hand in marriage meant a lot to me."

"It was tough wasn't it? Saying yes?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah," he said, fighting back tears again.

"It's okay to cry, Luke," Lorelai replied, now fighting her own tears at seeing her husband's emotions take over. "She's our little girl, maybe not yours biologically, but you've been there for her almost as much as I have. You've helped her with homework, given her special birthday breakfasts and dinners, cleaned a scraped knee…or five, you've seen her fall in love, and get heartbroken, make mistakes and make things right again. You're her dad in every way that counts. And it's okay to be upset about giving her boyfriend permission to marry her."

"She's been a big part of my life from the time Hurricane Lorelai blew in," Luke said, smiling through the tears that were now falling freely down his cheeks. "She was the only kid I ever liked until April came into the picture…I just hope she knows that I don't take our relationship lightly."

"She knows. And I know you hate crying in front of people, but you better get used to the idea or considered getting some kind of surgery that will keep you from crying," Lorelai advised, placing her hands on the sides of his head and wiping the tears away with her thumbs.

"Why is that?" He asked.

"Because she's going to ask you to give her away at the wedding, and if you're like this now, you're going to be bawling like a baby at the wedding," she replied.

"You really think she'll ask me?" He wondered. "Not Christopher or your dad?"

"She's going to ask you, trust me," Lorelai assured him, leaning in and kissing him briefly before hugging him tightly. "I'm so glad you and Rory have such a close relationship."

"Me too," Luke agreed, holding her close.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter 4**

The following evening, Sookie, Jackson, their family, along with Richard, Emily, Buddy, Maisy, Liz, TJ, Doula, Zack, Lane and the boys gathered at their home to celebrate Lorelai's birthday with the four of them. Luke had put together a large meal consisting of some of Lorelai's favorite foods, and Sookie had made her favorite cake.

Martha climbed up into Lorelai's lap when Sookie and Luke went into the kitchen to get the cake.

"Are you going to help me blow out the candles, kiddo?" She asked the 5-year-old.

"Yep!" Martha exclaimed excitedly.

When Sookie and Luke came out of the kitchen carrying the cake into the formal dining room, everyone began singing Happy Birthday. Lorelai looked up and down both sides of the large table at her friends and family, and smiled.

"Okay Martha," Lorelai said to the girl as everyone finished singing, and she made a silent wish as they both leaned in. "Time to blow out the candles."

They both took a deep breath and blew out all the candles in one shot, everyone cheered.

"Aunt Lola, we did it!" Martha squealed as everyone cheered.

"We sure did, and guess what…you get the second piece of cake," she said as Sookie placed the first piece in front of her. "Sookie, give your child the biggest piece you got."

"Not if she's coming home with me, I'm not," Sookie argued, cutting a normal sized piece to give to Martha.

"Mommy's no fun," Lorelai pressed her forehead to Martha's as she handed her the cake.

"Hmph," Martha pouted dramatically and snarled her nose at her mom teasingly as she took the cake and went back to her own seat in between her brothers.

"She spends too much time with you," Sookie laughed and shook her head as she continued cutting the cake.

"Man, this cake is fantastic," Lorelai said with a mouth full of cake.

"What did you wish for?" Luke asked his wife as he began to open the ice cream

"Uncle Luke, I want ice cream!" Martha squealed.

"She already has a plate with cake on it," Sookie pointed out so he could go ahead and give her ice cream.

"Okay," he replied, going down the table to where she was sitting and scooping some ice cream onto her plate, then coming back to where Sookie was plating the cake.

"I can't tell you what I wished for, you know that," Lorelai said pointedly as Luke put some ice cream on her plate. "But I think you already know."

"Ooh, dirty," Sookie commented quietly as Luke started putting ice cream on the other plates and passing it down the table.

"It's not dirty," Lorelai replied. "Quite the opposite actually."

"Do I get to know?" Sookie asked hopefully, continuing to serve cake.

"Eventually," Lorelai shrugged.

"Eventually?" Sookie questioned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I will eventually tell you," Lorelai answered sarcastically.

"This cake is delicious," Emily marveled. "Sookie, you made this?"

"I did," Sookie confirmed. "It's Lorelai's favorite."

"I thought the cake we had at dinner the other night was your favorite," Emily said.

"That's my favorite cake that any chef can make," Lorelai answered. "This is my favorite cake that only my best friend can make."

"I see," Emily nodded. "Well it is delicious."

"Thank you," Sookie replied graciously.

"Emily…Lorelai showed us pictures of the lake house you and Richard gave her for her birthday," Maisy said across the table. "It's beautiful."

"Yes, it was much more Lorelai and Luke's speed than ours," Emily replied. "We knew they would enjoy it much more than we ever could. Maybe they could take the two of you up there this summer."

"Luke and Buddy are actually already planning a fishing trip there soon," Lorelai pointed out.

"That's wonderful, just what it was intended for," Richard replied sincerely.

"When do we get to see this place?" Sookie questioned her friend.

"Yeah, us too," Liz added.

"You're all more than welcome to visit, we were actually thinking about having a get together there around 4th of July or Labor Day," Lorelai explained. "We'll let you know though."

Later that night, Luke and Lorelai were lying in bed on their backs after a round of lovemaking, both staring at the ceiling.

"Did you have a good birthday?" He asked breathlessly.

"The best," Lorelai smiled, looking over to him with a smile. "Things seem so normal."

"What do you mean?" Luke wondered, turning on his side to face her.

"Well, having Rory and Jess here, celebrating my birthday with everyone here, my parents not starting any arguments…well, that's not normal for them," Lorelai pointed out. "It was nice of April to call."

"Yeah," Luke replied, placing his hand on her bare stomach, rubbing his hand across it gently. "What were you two talking about that took so long?"

"She wanted me to talk to you about talking Anna into letting her come visit as soon as her school gets out next month," Lorelai said. "I told her I would mention it to you, but that I wasn't going to get into the middle of it."

"What's the hurry?" Luke questioned. "She's going to be here for six weeks in July and August."

"She said something about one of her friends here that's having a birthday party that weekend, and she's wanting to go," Lorelai replied.

"And Anna told her no?" Luke asked.

"She hasn't talked to Anna about it yet," she answered, turning on her side to face him.

"Why wouldn't she just ask Anna?" He wondered, his hand now on her waist, his thumb still lightly rubbing circles on her stomach. "If she wants, we can cut her scheduled time here a weekend short if that's what she's worried about."

"Luke…for April to want to fly across the country to a friend's birthday party is a little suspicious."

"Meaning…"

"Meaning it's probably not like the parties she had in junior high, when they did makeovers and played 'Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board,'" she pointed out, he looked at her with a clueless look on his face. "It's probably going to be a keg party, Luke!"

"April wouldn't want to go to a keg party," Luke furrowed his brow.

"Luke…don't kid yourself," Lorelai said, propping herself up on her elbow. "She's a great kid, but even the best kids get sucked into peer pressure."

"But if April is doing stuff like that, why wouldn't Anna mention that to me?"

"Honestly, she probably doesn't know," Lorelai said. "Unless April gets in trouble or hurt or something, Anna probably has no clue, I know my parents didn't know the majority of the stuff I was doing when I was younger than her."

"Don't remind me," Luke groaned, flopping over to his back and clasping his hands together behind his head.

"I'm just being honest with you, babe," she sighed, reaching over and running a hand over his cheek. "Like I told April, I'm not getting in the middle of it, discuss it with Anna. I could be completely wrong, just be honest with yourselves."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said. "Thank you."

They laid there in silence a few more moments, Lorelai had laid back down, snuggling into Luke's side as he slipped an arm around her.

"I forgot to tell you…I made a doctor's appointment for Thursday morning at 9," Lorelai told him as she yawned. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure it's okay with Cesar, but I'm sure it will be fine," Luke replied, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "You better get some sleep if you're going to spend some time with Rory tomorrow before they leave."

"'Kay," she answered with another yawn before drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, Lorelai and Rory sat in the diner, waiting on their breakfast. Jess had opted to stay home and sleep to give the mother and daughter time alone.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Lorelai asked Rory. "You can't just move home?"

"As much as I miss it here, and I miss you and Luke, we're happy in Manhattan," Rory added, then leaned in to whisper to her mom. "Besides, you're going to forget all about your firstborn once your new kid gets here."

"True…okay never mind," Lorelai teased.

"Mom!"

"I'm kidding, you know I'll never forget you," she said. "Just promise Mommy you'll come visit more."

"We're definitely going to try," Rory answered. "But we've been saying that for the last year or so, and it hasn't happened."

"Well, hopefully things slow down soon so you can visit more," Lorelai told her. "Luke and I will try to make it down to visit you, too."

"I would love to have you guys visit!" Rory smiled. "You haven't even got to see our new place since we unpacked and decorated."

"I know, I'm hoping the morning sickness wears off quick, I'm not sure I'll feel up to much traveling if this is how I'm going to feel," Lorelai said.

"I'm sure it makes Luke happy to have you asking for fruit for breakfast," Rory told her.

"I'm sure," Lorelai mumbled. "I'm just happy it's just morning sickness, as opposed to lasting all day."

"Yeah, the birthday celebration wouldn't have been pretty if you were sick," Rory agreed.

"Here are your pancakes," Luke said as he came over and placed the plate of pancakes and bacon in front of Rory, then put a bowl of fruit in front of Lorelai, kissing the top of her head. "And your fruit."

"Stop gloating," she glared at him as he sat down with them with his own bowl of fruit.

"I'm not gloating, I'm just glad something got you to choose fruit over pancakes," he smirked.

"How come you never complain about Rory wanting pancakes every morning for breakfast?" Lorelai frowned, looking to her daughter. "She's literally had pancakes for every single morning since they got here."

"Because I don't have to live with Rory," he answered. "And when Rory comes to visit, she gets whatever she wants."

"Ha!"

"So not fair," she muttered, folding her arms across her body, pretending to be upset.

"You didn't want pancakes," Luke pulled her arms away from her body to lace his fingers with hers, and brought her hand to his mouth, placing a kiss on her knuckles.

"It's okay Mom, I eat fruit for breakfast a lot when I'm home," Rory admitted, taking a bite of her pancakes.

"What time do we have to have you at the train station?" Luke asked.

"Our train leaves New Haven at 5:45," Rory replied. "So we probably need to leave here a little after four."

"I thought you were leaving out of Hartford," he said, cutting one of the strawberries in his bowl of fruit and putting it in his mouth.

"If we leave from Hartford, we have to be there over an hour earlier and then ride a bus to New Haven to catch the train," Rory answered. "But if it's a problem, we can just leave from Hartford."

"Of course not, there's no use in you riding the bus just to catch the train in New Haven anyway," Luke replied. "It's almost the same distance anyway."

"I was just telling Mom that you haven't seen the penthouse since we unpacked and decorated, so you should come visit after her sickness goes away," Rory told Luke.

"Yeah, we'll have to do that," Luke agreed.

"So Luke, tell Rory what we were talking about last night, and see what she thinks," Lorelai said, he had an unsure look on his face. "About April."

"Oh, right!"

"What about April?" Rory questioned.

"She's wanting to come visit the weekend school gets out because one of her friends here is having a birthday party," Luke said.

"A birthday party?" Rory asked.

"Yeah," he shrugged.

"She wants to fly all the way across the country for a birthday party?" She questioned. "I know she's still friends with some of her friends here, but she's never wanted to do that before."

"So you think there's something fishy about it?" Luke asked.

"With it being less than a month away, there's definitely something going on," Rory confirmed. "What did Anna have to say about it?"

"She doesn't know, when April called last night to wish your mom a happy birthday, she asked her to mention it to me so I could talk to Anna," Luke said.

"Birthday party on short notice, and going through Mom to get the answer she wants, when any other time she would ask you or Anna…" Rory pondered. "My guess is that she's either lying about the party, or the party is going to involve alcohol."

"Told ya," Lorelai looked to Luke, who let out a sigh.

"I'm gonna go call Anna," he said, getting up from the table.

"I still have to pack, we may be gone before you finish your call," Rory told him.

"Okay, I'll be home in a little while to take you to the train station," Luke told her.

"Good luck," Lorelai said as Luke leaned over to kiss her.

"Thanks," he replied, going behind the counter to grab the cordless phone before disappearing behind the curtain to the storage room.

"Has she mentioned anything about the party to you?" Lorelai asked Rory.

"Nothing," Rory answered. "She's said something to me about drinking at a party there in Albuquerque, but it was only once and she said she didn't really like it…I'm not sure how much of that is true though, because even though I'm the cool older sister, she knows I would come to you and Luke if there was cause for concern."

"I'm just worried Luke and Anna will try to deny it even if it's true," Lorelai said.

Later that day, Lorelai pulled up in front of the diner with Rory and Jess in the backseat. Luke had lost track of time at the diner, and they had to go pick him up before heading to New Haven. When he saw the SUV pull up, he told Cesar he was leaving, and went out the door.

"Sorry about that," Luke said as he got in the passenger's seat.

"It's okay, we're used to you forgetting us," Rory said sadly from the backseat.

"Did you put her up to that?" He asked Lorelai after seeing the sad look on Rory's face.

"Nope, she came up with it all by herself," Lorelai giggled, pulling away from the curb.

A little while later, they were walking through Union Station in New Haven.

"You didn't have to walk us in," Jess said as they made it to their destination.

"I know, but then we wouldn't get the dramatic goodbye, we'd have people at the curb honking at us for taking too long," Lorelai pointed out, already getting emotional.

"Mom," Rory frowned, coming to her mom's side and putting her hand on her back before pulling her into a hug.

"I'm sorry, I told myself I wouldn't cry," Lorelai replied, hugging her daughter tightly.

"It's okay, don't apologize," Rory said. "We'll try to visit again soon."

"You better," Luke told her, then turned to Jess to give Lorelai and Rory a moment. "Take care of her, Jess."

"I always do," he replied, shaking Luke's hand before Luke pulled him into a brief hug.

"I know," Luke smiled knowingly. "We're so proud of you."

"Thanks," Jess nodded. "That means a lot."

"What about me?" Rory asked, as she and her mom rejoined them, Lorelai wiping away the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

"Nope, not at all," Luke shook his head, Rory's mouth gaped open, he quickly pulled her into a side hug. "Of course we're proud of you."

"Thanks Luke," she said, returning the hug.

"Now remember…anymore financial trouble, or any trouble at all, please let us know so we can help you," he told her.

"We will let you know, but I can't promise we'll let you help us," Rory replied. "We're in a much better place financially though since I got that promotion."

"Good to know," he said.

"We better get to our train," Jess told Rory, she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Bye sweets," Lorelai said, stepping forward and hugging her daughter.

"Bye Mom, I love you," she replied as they kissed each other on the cheek.

"Love you too," Lorelai said, trying to hold back tears as she went to hug Jess. "Bye Jess, keep up the hard work."

"Will do," Jess replied.

"Bye Rory," Luke said as Rory hugged him tightly. "Keep him in line."

"I will," she giggled.

"We love you, kid," he said, kissing her on the forehead.

"Love you too," she smiled up at him. "Take care of Mom."

"I will," he answered.

"Call us when you get home," Lorelai told them, hugging her daughter one last time.

"We will," Rory assured her, turning to Jess, who took her hand in his.

Luke and Lorelai stood there watching Rory and Jess make their way to their platform for a moment. Before they went into the tunnel, Rory turned to wave at them one last time.

"That might be the last time we'll see her as a non-engaged woman," Lorelai said with tears in her eyes as they both waved back at Rory.

"How long do you think it will be before he pops the question?" Luke wondered as they turned to leave the train station.

"I guess time will tell, I just hope he doesn't make us wait forever," she replied.

"I wouldn't mind if he waited," Luke admitted, putting an arm around Lorelai.

"Oh Luke," she frowned, slipping an arm around his waist as they stepped outside of the station into the brisk spring air.

Once they were in the car, this time Luke in the driver's seat, Lorelai remembered the call Luke went to make before she and Rory left the diner this morning.

"So what did Anna have to say about the whole April situation?" She asked once they pulled out onto the street.

"She said that there's a girl April's been hanging out with lately that Anna doesn't really approve of, she thinks the girl is a bad influence on April," Luke explained. "She said weekend before last April woke up on Saturday morning sick, Anna suspected it was a hangover, but didn't say anything to her about it, wanting to see if it happened again, it hasn't to her knowledge, but she's been spending a lot of time at this new friend's house."

"And what about her coming to visit in a few weeks?"

"Anna said in light of everything else, and the fact that April came to you first makes her suspicious, and she agreed this party may be something bigger than what she's letting on," he continued. "She said to thank you for your input."

"It's no problem, April's well-being is the most important thing here, whether she likes it or not, and I'm not here to be her friend, even though I'm the cool one, I am still a parent first," Lorelai pointed out.

They were both quiet for a few minutes, Luke noticed the pensive look on Lorelai's face as she stared out the window.

"What's up?" He asked, reaching over and lightly squeezing her leg.

"I was just thinking about this baby," she replied, resting her hand on her stomach. "You know, Rory was such a good kid, I didn't have any problems with her until she was into college and I couldn't really do anything about it. When April came into your life, she reminded me of Rory a lot…"

"But?"

"But things are a lot different now even from how they were ten years ago, there's too much going on in their lives, kids grow up too fast," Lorelai explained as she absentmindedly rubbed her stomach. "I just worry that things will continue that way, and the way I raised Rory won't be enough for our baby, I don't want him or her to grow up too fast."

Luke squeezed her hand that wasn't resting on her stomach. "I know you're scared, I am too, but we're going to handle it…together," he reminded her. "We'll do everything in our power to slow things down, even if we have to lock the kid in their room until they're 30."

Lorelai let out a laugh. "Yeah, I can see that happening, I can also picture them scaling down the side of the house or shimmying down one of the support beams on the front porch."

"We'll nail the windows shut," he replied, causing her to laugh again as she laced her fingers with his. "It'll all work out."

"It'll all work out with April too," Lorelai assured him.

Thursday afternoon the two of them walked into the house, Lorelai hung her purse on one of the hooks in the mud room as she kicked her shoes off.

"Are you sure that's what they said?" She asked Luke.

"Yes! You asked them five million times, their answer stayed the same…there is nothing wrong with you that would cause you to miscarry," he assured her as he walked into the kitchen, grabbing them each a bottle of water from the fridge, handing one to her. "It just happens sometimes."

"Well, barring any complications, we should have a baby by the end of the year," she smiled as he pulled her to him and they kissed. "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied, leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms still hugging her waist. "We're still going to wait to tell everyone though, right?"

"I'd like to," Lorelai answered. "I have a feeling Sookie will catch on, but I'm not going to tell her."

"Okay," he nodded as Lorelai yawned.

"It's been a long day," she said.

"You should rest," he told her, releasing his hold on her.

"I need to call Rory back," Lorelai said, going toward the mud room to get her phone out of her purse.

"When did she call?" Luke wondered as he walked into the family room and sat down in the armchair.

"Oh, about the time they were sticking a million needles in my arms to find a vein that would produce all those gallons of blood they needed," she told him, coming back with her phone at her ear, she sat down on the couch and propped her feet up on the coffee table.

"Hey Mom," Rory answered.

"Hey hon, I was just calling you back," she said.

"Oh, I wanted to know how your appointment went," Rory told her.

"We just got home, it took FOR-EVER!" Lorelai replied dramatically, causing Luke to roll his eyes as he took a drink of his water and turn on the TV at a low volume. "I was telling Luke that you called as they were drawing all those gallons of blood."

"It's not gallons," she said.

"I think it is," Lorelai argued.

"So how did the rest of the appointment go?" Rory asked, hoping to end the tirade.

"It went well, they said there's no reason that I can't carry to term," she explained. "My due date is December 27th."

"Oh yay, a Christmas baby!" Rory exclaimed.

"That's what I told Luke," Lorelai said. "We can have snow-related birthday parties every year!"

"That will be perfect!" Rory gushed.

"How are things going with you this week?" Lorelai asked.

"Good…busy, but good," Rory answered. "Already looking forward to Memorial Day weekend at the lake house."

"Me too, it'll be nice to have some time with just us out there relaxing," she replied.

"Tell Luke I want those chili cheese fries he can make over the campfire," Rory said excitedly.

"Rory says she wants the campfire chili cheese fries," Lorelai told him.

"They're not any different than regular chili cheese fries, just the cooking method is different," Luke pointed out.

"Did you hear that?" Lorelai asked into the phone.

"But they're cool!" Rory said, Lorelai repeated it to Luke.

"Fine, I'll bring the stuff to make 'em," Luke said, pretending to be annoyed when they all knew he would stand on his head and cook chili cheese fries if it made her happy.

"Yes!"

A week later, Lorelai walked into the diner, sitting down at a table. Luke came over with a coffee pot and mug.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit at the counter?" He asked, placing the mug on the table and pouring coffee into it.

"I appreciate you asking if I'd like to sit at the counter rather than telling me to move so paying customers can sit here..." she smiled, knowing he was trying to avoid an argument. "But I'm meeting Sookie for breakfast before work since it's her first day back from maternity leave."

"I see," he nodded before leaning down to kiss her chastely. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm starving," she admitted.

"Good," he smiled. "I better get back to the kitchen to help Cesar."

"Okay, I'll be here," she replied.

A few minutes later Sookie came into the diner with Audrey in a sling across her body.

"Uh Sookie…you're still wearing a baby," Lorelai said as her friend sat down at the table. "Did you forget to drop her off at daycare with Ethan?"

"I couldn't do it," Sookie frowned. "I took Davey and Martha to school and Ethan to daycare, but I couldn't bring myself to leave her."

"Sookie!"

"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed. "I tried, I failed…she's my last baby, there are no more after her, and I want to be with her all the time."

"You realize that can't happen if you're going to reclaim your position as head chef at the inn, right?" Lorelai questioned. "You can't raise a baby in a kitchen."

"I know, I just want more time with her," Sookie whined, looking down at the baby in the sling.

"Well, I'm sure Oscar will be happy to hear that he doesn't have to give up his temporary title just yet," Lorelai told her.

"Maybe we could keep her in your office," Sookie suggested.

"That might work if she was self-sufficient," she said, Audrey began to fuss in the sling, so Sookie took her out and bounced her lightly. "But you know better than I do that you can't just leave something you're cooking on a hot burner or in the oven so you can tend to your crying baby. It's not fair to the inn or Audrey. I'm not going to be mad if you decide you want to take more time off to be with her."

"You're right," Sookie sighed. "I'll take her back to daycare after we eat breakfast."

"Good, because I want to hold her before we send her back," Lorelai confessed, holding her arms out to take the baby.

As Sookie was handing Audrey to Lorelai, the baby began to cry. Lorelai cradled the baby against her body, putting her pacifier in her mouth and lightly holding it there so she wouldn't spit it out. She began to shush her to get her to stop crying. Soon Audrey's cries turned to whimpers, and she began to rub her eyes.

"You're sleepy, huh?" Lorelai said softly.

Luke approached the table, smiling at the sight of his wife holding Audrey.

"Morning Sookie," he said.

"Morning Luke," Sookie replied.

Lorelai was focused on the baby, but then looked up to her husband to find him staring down at her.

"She's beautiful," Luke commented.

"Are you talking about my baby or your wife?" Sookie wondered.

Luke smirked. "Both."

"She's perfect, isn't she?" Lorelai asked, kissing Audrey's forehead lightly, the baby was now contentedly watching Luke.

"She is," Luke agreed. "So…can I get you two some breakfast?"

"I want hash browns with gravy on top, and bacon and sausage," Lorelai said.

"Both?" Luke asked.

"What?" Lorelai countered. "I'm hungry!"

"Okay," he relented, then turned to Sookie. "What about you?"

"I want a biscuit and gravy, bacon and eggs over easy," Sookie said.

"Got it, I'll have those out in a few," he said before going back to the kitchen.

By the time he returned with their food, Audrey had fallen asleep in Lorelai's arms. Sookie had gone out to the car to get her car seat to put her in while they ate. Lorelai carefully put the baby in the carrier, rocking it back and forth a little to make sure Audrey stayed asleep.

Sookie began cutting up her eggs, Lorelai suddenly felt queasy at the sight of the runny yolks. She focused on her own food, trying to put it out of her mind. She kept the feeling at bay until the waitress brought a Western omelet to the table next to them, and the scent of the peppers and onions hit her, instantly causing her to have the urge to throw up.

"Be right back," Lorelai said as she quickly darted toward the downstairs bathroom.

Luke was coming out of the store room as Lorelai came rushing down the hall.

"Lorelai, what's going on?" He asked, she didn't respond as she ran into the bathroom, not even slowing down to shut the door behind her.

Luke stepped into the bathroom with her, closing the door and swiftly stepping over to take her hair that she was holding out of her face. Kneeling down next to her, he gently ran his hand up and down her back as she threw up. He remained silent until she finally sat back on her heels and took a few deep breaths.

"What triggered it this time?" He finally asked.

"Sookie's eggs, and the peppers and onions in the omelet Savannah brought to the table next to us," Lorelai explained, shuddering at the thought.

"I knew the runny eggs would set you off," Luke said, still rubbing her back gently. "I almost made up an excuse to not make them."

"You should've," she leaned against him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"You think she suspects anything?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, she knows now for sure," Lorelai confirmed, sitting back up to look at him. "She's good at these things."

"You think you can go back out there?" He asked.

"Not if it still smells like peppers and onions," she scowled. "I can avoid Sookie's eggs, but I don't think I can deal with that smell."

"You want me to go throw their food out?" He asked jokingly.

"That would be amazing," she smiled weakly. "But I don't think it would go over well with the customers."

"You want to go upstairs to brush your teeth first while I go try to get rid of the smell?"

"You read my mind," she said as he helped her up off the floor.

They both washed their hands and when Lorelai opened the bathroom door, Sookie nearly tackled her in a hug.

"You're pregnant!" She squealed.

"Sshh!" Luke and Lorelai both replied.

"Sorry," she said in a whisper. "You're pregnant."

"We are," Lorelai confirmed.

Sookie threw her arms around her best friend again as she squealed. "I'm so excited for you!"

"Thanks," Lorelai said, after a moment, Sookie hadn't released her hold. "Sook…you think you might want to let me go now?"

"Sorry, I'm just so happy," Sookie told them, finally letting her go.

"We are too, but we want to keep it quiet for the time being, so you can't tell anyone," Lorelai said, as they moved toward the store room where they could continue their conversation privately.

"How long have you known?" Sookie asked.

"Two weeks," Lorelai answered. "The doctor confirmed it last week."

"And you didn't tell me?!" Sookie exclaimed.

"We haven't told anyone except Rory and Jess," Luke told her.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Sookie asked, she could tell by the look on Lorelai's face.

"Yeah," Lorelai's response was almost inaudible as she and Sookie sat down on crates.

"How far along are you?"

"Seven weeks," Lorelai said.

"I'm going to get back out there to help Savannah," Luke said, kissing Lorelai's temple. "Take as long as you need."

"Will you check on Audrey?" Sookie asked him. "Kirk was watching her when I came back here."

"Bad choice," Luke commented. "But yes, I will check on her."

"Seven weeks, huh?" Sookie asked after Luke walked out.

"Yeah, they said there's no reason I can't carry to term, but we're on pins and needles," Lorelai told her. "I was twelve weeks when I had the last miscarriage, so I think if I can make it into my second trimester, I'll feel a little better about the whole thing."

"Honey…" Sookie sighed, hugging her friend. "I wish I could tell you everything will be okay, but in all reality, those first few weeks are terrifying, they were even when I found out I was pregnant with Audrey."

"That's why I don't want everyone to know, because everyone will be all excited and try to tell me things will be okay, and I hate hearing that when I know all the things that can go wrong," Lorelai said, allowing her friend to comfort her.

"Well, you have Luke, the best husband in the world, and you have me, and Rory isn't far away," Sookie reminded her. "No matter what happens, we're here for you. And you're tough as nails, so I have no doubt you'll make it through whatever life throws at you."

"Thanks Sookie," Lorelai said, sitting upright to look at her friend.

"And who knows, maybe life will throw you quadruplets," Sookie grinned.

"Bite your tongue," Lorelai scoffed as they both began to giggle. "You better go check on Audrey, Kirk may be brainwashing her by now."

"He's probably already researching how to start a babysitting business," Sookie added as they started down the hallway from the storage room.

"I'm going to run upstairs and brush my teeth real quick, then I'll be back," Lorelai said as Sookie went back into the diner and she went upstairs.

* * *

 **So not a lot happening in this chapter, but it's setting everything up for things to come. Let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter Five

**Hey guys, thanks for the feedback on the last chapter! I hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Chapter 5**

It was ten days until Memorial Day, Luke and Buddy had left the previous day on their fishing trip. Luke decided to take the opportunity to make sure everything was ready at the lake house for their family trip the following weekend. He had also bought a new boat that he wanted to take up there since they had nowhere to keep it in Stars Hollow.

Lorelai was at the Dragonfly when her cell phone began to ring, she pulled it from her pocket and saw that it was Anna, so she answered it.

"Anna, hi," she said, surprised.

"Lorelai, do you know how to get a hold of Luke?" Anna asked. "I called the diner and the man working said he had gone fishing, and he isn't answering his cell."

"Well, he's at the lake house in New Hampshire, our phones don't get good service up there, so he usually doesn't carry his, but you can text him, that should be able to get through, and he'll reply when he sees it," Lorelai explained. "Is something wrong?"

"Have you heard from April?" Anna wondered.

"No, not since she got mad at all of us over the whole not letting her come here this weekend," she replied. "Is she okay?"

"I'm not sure…today was the last day of school, but the school called saying she was absent," Anna explained. "Her phone goes straight to voicemail like she's turned it off, I've called all of her friends, they said they haven't seen her."

"So you think she's headed here," Lorelai said, it wasn't a question, that was the first thing that crossed her mind.

"That party is tonight," Anna told her, Lorelai heard her voice quiver briefly. "She had money saved up from her birthday, she could've easily bought a plane ticket."

"Okay, do you know which friend is having the party?" Lorelai asked.

"Kayla…I think her last name is Evans," Anna answered.

"Where does Kayla Evans live?" Lorelai asked.

Anna explained where Kayla lived as Lorelai made notes on a piece of paper, she had remembered picking April up there a few times. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going pay Kayla Evans a little visit," Lorelai said.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Anna replied.

"Oh really? Do you have a plan to find your daughter?" Lorelai asked, going into her office and grabbing her purse.

"Fine," Anna finally said after a moment of silence. "But I want you to call me as soon as you talk to Kayla."

"I will," Lorelai replied as she walked into the kitchen. "Listen…can we wait to worry Luke about this? He's had a lot on his mind lately, and he and Buddy took that fishing trip to get away for a few days. If April is at her friend's, I will bring her here and let you handle her. If she isn't there and this is something bigger, then we'll worry Luke."

"Okay," Anna agreed. "What about the police?"

"Go ahead and call the police, see what you need to do to report a runaway, I'm going to call Rory to see if April has talked to her or Jess," Lorelai replied, for a moment there was silence on the other end, she was about to say something when Anna finally spoke up.

"Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"Not a problem, I'd do the same if it were Rory," Lorelai assured her. "Call me if you hear anything."

"I will."

They said their goodbyes and Lorelai sighed as she put her phone in her purse.

"What's up?" Sookie asked.

"That was Anna, April's missing and we think she may have snuck off up here to come to her friend's party," Lorelai explained. "So I'm going to said friend's house and if she's there, I'm dragging her home by that pretty little head of hair of hers."

"Uh oh, I'd hate to be April right now," Sookie replied.

Once in the car, she connected her phone to Bluetooth and called Rory.

"Hey Mom," Rory answered.

"Hi sweets, how are things in the city?" Lorelai asked as she drove toward Meriden, where Kayla lived.

"Good, I'm cooking dinner for Jess and myself," Rory replied, she could tell her mom was in the car. "Where are you headed?"

"I'm on my way to April's friend's house in Meriden," Lorelai told her.

"Why?"

"Because April didn't show up for school this morning, and Anna hasn't heard from her, so we're thinking she may have bought a plane ticket and came here for her friend's birthday party," she explained. "That's actually why I'm calling you. Have you or Jess heard from her?"

"I haven't and Jess didn't say anything when I talked to him a few minutes ago," Rory replied. "That's definitely something he would tell me about, but I really don't think April would call Jess if she needed something."

"Well, I needed to make sure, I wanted to have all our bases covered," Lorelai replied. "If you hear from her, you'll call me?"

"Of course."

"And if you or Jess happen to talk to Luke, he's at the lake house and we haven't told him what's going on, so keep it on the hush-hush for now," Lorelai replied.

"We will."

"Thank you for never pulling a stunt like this," Lorelai replied.

"You're welcome," Rory said, Lorelai could tell she was grinning when she said this. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, feeling a little stressed," Lorelai admitted.

"Just don't get too worked up," she cautioned her mother.

"I won't," Lorelai sighed. "I love you kid."

"I love you too, Mom."

It was still too early for a party when she got to Kayla's, but she could already hear the faint sound of music coming from the house. When she stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell, she could hear teenage squeals and giggles coming from the other side. When the front door finally opened, the house was silent, and a girl with long blonde hair answered the door, looking at Lorelai with confusion.

"Hi, are you Kayla?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah," Kayla replied. "Who are you?"

"Lorelai Danes…you might remember me, I've dropped April Danes off here a few times," Lorelai explained. "Of course, that was quite a few years ago, and we both had different last names then, mine was Gilmore, hers was Nardini, but the faces are still the same…"

"Oh yeah…the cool mom," Kayla smiled, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Well, you see, about a month ago April had asked her mom and dad if she could come to your birthday party this weekend," Lorelai explained. "They told her no, we thought it was all forgotten…well, most of it, she refuses to talk to me, and only talks to her dad when she has to. Anyway, she didn't show up for school this morning."

"It is her last day though, everyone blows off the last day of class," Kayla said.

"So you've talked to her?" Lorelai questioned.

"Not in the last few days, but I knew today was her last day of class," Kayla answered. "Look…if you came to see if she's here, she's not."

"Okay," Lorelai nodded, feigning belief. "Her mom is so freaked out that she's called the police to report her missing."

"Well, I hope you find her," Kayla said nervously.

"Listen, if you see her or talk to her, tell her to give me or her mom a call to at least let us know she's okay," she told her. "And if she shows up here, let her know her 'Stepmonster' is worried about her, and she can come to me if she needs anything."

"If I talk to her, I'll let her know," Kayla assured her.

"Thanks Kayla," Lorelai smiled before walking off the porch.

Once Kayla had shut and locked the front door, April, and her friends, Marissa and Jamie came out from their hiding places.

"I better go after her," April said, starting for the front door.

"Wait…why would you do that?" Kayla asked, grabbing April's arm to stop her. "If you let her know you're here now, you'll miss out on all the fun at the party tonight."

"Yeah, and Austin is coming just to see you," Jamie added.

"But she said my mom called the cops," April argued.

"And Kayla told her she hadn't heard from you," Marissa said, guiding her back to the living room.

"You actually think she bought that?" April scoffed.

"She seemed to," Kayla shrugged.

"Lorelai is smarter than that," April said.

"Well, let's just see how it plays out," Jamie said as they sat back down in the living room. "You're going to be in trouble whether you go home now or later, so you might as well stay for the party."

"Yeah, this is going to be the party of the year, you can't miss it," Marissa whined.

"Okay fine," April gave in. "I'll stay for now."

Meanwhile, as Lorelai was leaving Meriden, she called Anna.

"Was she there? Did you talk to her?" Anna asked without even greeting Lorelai.

"Kayla says no, but when I told her she was missing, she didn't seem the least bit concerned," Lorelai replied. "And when I told her you were contacting the police, she acted nervous."

"But you didn't actually see her?" She questioned.

"I didn't, I know there were other people there because they were talking and giggling when I walked up to the front door, but when Kayla answered the door, it was completely silent," Lorelai explained. "I told her that if she saw or talked to April to have her call one of us to let her know she's okay."

"Why didn't you just go in and drag her out of there if you knew she was there?" Anna asked as she started pacing.

"Because, you can't just walk into someone's house uninvited," Lorelai told her. "Not to mention, it's a big house, I'm not going in there alone to search the entire house."

"I guess you've got a point there."

"Besides, I'd rather give her a chance to come to us," Lorelai added. "Did you talk to the police?"

"Well, as I suspected, she has to be missing a full 24 hours before we can really do anything," Anna said, biting her fingernails, something she only did when she was nervous.

"Just remember, she's closer to us than most teenagers are with their parents," Lorelai reminded her. "She's made a few bad decisions lately, and her taking off is typical teenage behavior. But she's going to need something soon and she won't know who to run to except one of us, believe me."

"So you don't think someone could've taken her?"

"No, I can almost guarantee she's in Meriden."

"Thanks Lorelai," Anna said.

"You're welcome. Keep me updated and I'll do the same," Lorelai replied before they said their goodbyes and ended the call.

By the time Lorelai made it back to Stars Hollow, it was dark. She had too much time to think during her drive, and she had started to worry something really happened to April instead of her running away. She felt stressed out, and had started to cry. Normally the first person she would talk to was Luke, but they could only communicate by text, and she was afraid she would tell him what was going on. Not that he didn't have the right to know, she should tell him, but he really needed this weekend away with Buddy.

She didn't want to go home alone, because that just gave her more time to think. So she made her way to Sookie's house. When she got to the front door, she lightly knocked on the door because she knew at least Ethan and Audrey would be sleeping, if not all four children.

"Lorelai, hey," Jackson said when he opened the front door. "Come in."

"Thanks Jackson," Lorelai walked into the house. "Is Sookie here?"

"Yeah, she thought you might come by, so she's getting the kids in bed early," Jackson replied. "She saved you some dinner, it's apricot chicken. You want me to heat it up?"

"I can heat it up," she said, going toward the kitchen, Jackson followed.

"She told me about April, I take it you didn't find her," he said, leaning against the counter.

Lorelai burst into tears again at the thought of her stepdaughter missing.

"Jackson, what did you do to make her cry?" Sookie asked as she came into the kitchen, going immediately to Lorelai, pulling her into her embrace.

"I only asked if she found April!" Jackson exclaimed.

"If she did, do you think she'd be here?" Sookie questioned her husband as she guided Lorelai toward the couch where they sat down.

"I'm sorry Jackson, I'm just overly emotional," Lorelai cried. "I want to believe April's hiding out at her friend's house, but I can't be sure, she could be anywhere, someone could've taken her for all we know."

"You're going to find her, Lorelai," Sookie said, allowing Lorelai to cry on her shoulder as she rubbed her arm softly. "April's a pretty tough kid, she's smart, even if someone took her, she'll figure out a way to get back to her family."

"I asked Anna not to tell Luke yet," Lorelai told them, her tears finally subsiding. "I don't want to ruin his trip with Buddy."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind, he would want to know," Sookie replied.

"I know, but he's been so faithful through the whole infertility thing, he knows how much I hate giving myself the injections, so he's put off going places so he can be there to give them to me every day, he's been at all the doctor's appointments, he's put up with my mood swings, morning sickness and all that for the last month," Lorelai told them.

"Sweetie, you have to tell him sometime," Sookie reminded her.

Jackson came back into the living room with the plate of food he had heated up for Lorelai, handing it to her.

"Thanks Jackson," she sniffed, taking the plate, and looking back to Sookie as Jackson sat down on the love seat. "I know I have to tell him, and if we haven't heard from April by tomorrow morning, I will get a hold of him then, but I don't want him to worry if she's in the town over from us."

"Right, I agree," Sookie nodded.

Lorelai ate dinner, talking to Sookie and Jackson awhile longer to ease her mind. Then decided to go home to try to sleep. But once she made it home, her thoughts consumed her, and she knew sleep wouldn't come any time soon. So she began to clean.

It was nearing midnight when her phone began to ring. She stubbed her toe on the kitchen island trying to get to it on the counter next to the coffee maker. She didn't even bother to look at the caller ID, hoping it was April.

"April? Are you okay?"

"No, it's me, sweetie," Sookie's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Sookie? Is something wrong?"

"Well, you left my house two hours ago to go home to sleep, but when I drove past your house on my way to the drug store in Woodbridge, I saw almost every light in the house on," Sookie explained. "So I assumed you were still awake."

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep, so I started cleaning," Lorelai revealed. "Why did you go to the drug store?"

"Davey's allergies are really bothering him and his sinuses are stopped up so bad that he's having a hard time breathing, so I went to get him some medicine," she told her. "I dropped the medicine off with Jackson and now I'm pulling into your driveway."

"What? Why?"

"To come keep you company," Sookie replied. "You shouldn't be alone at a time like this."

"You're too good to me Sookie," Lorelai said as she went to the front door, opening it to see her friend getting out of her SUV.

They ended the call and Sookie came into the house.

"I brought ice cream," she said, pulling a carton of ice cream from a sack.

"You're the best," Lorelai grinned as they went into the kitchen.

"Do you need help with anything?" Sookie wondered.

"No, I think I'll take a break for now, let's go into the living room," Lorelai replied, grabbing two spoons from the drawer, and heading for the couch. "I don't know what I would do without you. You've got four kids at home, one of them sick, yet you still come over in the middle of the night to take care of me."

"Well, Jackson can handle the kids, you need me more right now," Sookie said, sitting down on the couch next to her friend.

Just as they began to dig into the ice cream, Lorelai's phone rang again. This time, April's photo popped up on the screen.

"It's April!" Lorelai shrieked as she grabbed the phone from the coffee table and answered it. "April? Are you okay?"

"Lor'lai…" April cried through the phone, her speech slurred. "I'm at Kayla's. Can you come get me?"

"Of course I can," Lorelai said, jumping up off the couch, Sookie followed suit. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said unconvincingly. "Lor'lai?"

"Yeah?" She asked as she started upstairs to put on clothes that weren't pajamas.

"Can you leave Dad at home?"

"Your dad is in New Hampshire, babe," Lorelai paused. "April are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, jus' come get me," April said, still crying.

"Okay, I'm on my way," Lorelai assured her. "I'll be there in about thirty minutes, okay?"

When Lorelai came back downstairs, Sookie was waiting by the front door, holding her own purse and keys as well as Lorelai's.

"I'll text you once I figure out what's going on," she said, taking her purse and keys from her friend.

"No, I'm driving you, come on," Sookie told her as she opened the front door.

"Sookie, I can't ask you to do that, you should be home with Davey if he isn't feeling well," Lorelai argued.

"Lorelai, it's late, you're tired, you're stressed out, and I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you on your way to pick up April," Sookie argued. "Now I already called Jackson, he wants me to take you, so we can either stand here arguing all night, or we can go pick up April."

"Let's go," Lorelai sighed.

Once they were on their way to Meriden, Lorelai called Anna.

"Did you find her?" Anna answered.

"She called and asked me to come get her from Kayla's, I'm on my way there right now," Lorelai explained.

Anna let out the breath she was holding in, then began to cry.

"Will you have her call me when you get her?" Anna asked.

"I'm not sure what condition she's in, but I'll try," Lorelai replied.

"What do you mean?" Anna shrieked. "You talked to her! She's okay isn't she?"

"Well, she was slurring her words, and she was crying, so I'm not really sure what's going besides her being drunk," Lorelai replied. "How about I call you as soon as I have her in the car on the way back to Stars Hollow?"

"Okay," Anna agreed.

A little while later, Sookie pulled up to Kayla's house. Lorelai quickly jumped out of the SUV, Sookie following closely behind her.

"Oh look, the cool mom's back," Marissa said when she saw Lorelai and Sookie enter the living room. "And she brought a friend. Are you a cool mom too?"

"Where's April?" Lorelai demanded

"Last I saw, she was headed upstairs with that guy she's been talking to," Marissa said, obviously drunk.

"Austin…his name is Austin," Jamie added.

Lorelai took off up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She started knocking on doors and calling out for April once she made it to the second level. It wasn't until she opened the third door that she found who she was looking for, luckily she was alone. April pulled her stepmom into the room and shut the door, leaving Sookie in the hall.

"Lor'lai!" April flung herself into Lorelai's arms and began sobbing.

"April," Lorelai breathed out, wrapping her arms around the girl as she also began to cry.

They stood there for a minute before Lorelai walked them over to the bed, where they sat down, neither of them releasing their grip on the other. When Lorelai's tears slowed, she realized April was only in a bra and panties.

"Hey sweetie," Lorelai said softly, stroking April's hair. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," April cried.

"O-okay," she nodded. "How about we get out of here and get you home? Where are your clothes?"

"They're in Kayla's room," April replied.

"No I mean the clothes you had on tonight," Lorelai amended, as she sat back to get a good look at her stepdaughter, making sure she was okay physically.

"He t-took them," she answered as she began to cry harder.

"Okay, if I'm going to have to kill someone, I'd rather get it over with tonight," Lorelai told her sternly. "Who took your clothes?"

"Austin, he said he wanted to come up here to talk, but then he tried to give me a drink that he brought up here with him," April continued to cry as she drunkenly rambled on. "I didn't want it, but he kept trying to get me to drink it, so I took a sip, then he tried to get me to drink the rest of it, but I didn't want to. He got angry and ripped my shirt off, he started touching me, I tried to get him off of me, but I couldn't."

"Honey," Lorelai said, tears still streaming down her own cheeks as April collapsed back into her embrace. "Did he hurt you?"

April shook her head no. "He got my jeans off, but then I kicked him in the balls, and told him if he didn't leave me alone that you would be here to cut his dick off, he got mad and left, but took my jeans."

Lorelai laughed quietly, shaking her head because she wasn't used to hearing her stepdaughter talk like that. "Good girl," she said, pressing a kiss to the top of April's head. "The rest of your clothes are in Kayla's room?"

"Mmhmm," April murmured.

"Stay here, I'll go get them," Lorelai said, kissing the girl's forehead before standing up to leave the room.

"It's the room at the end of the room," April told her.

"Oh really? Maybe at the end of the hall?" Lorelai teased.

"Yeah. That."

She slipped out the door and shut it behind her, Sookie was waiting for her in the hall.

"My kids will be dead if they ever try to throw a party like this," Sookie said, then noticed Lorelai had been crying. "Where's April? Is everything okay?"

"Some guy brought her up here, and I'm pretty sure he tried to drug her, he ripped her shirt, she kicked him in the balls, so he got mad and left, but he took her jeans, I have to go to Kayla's room to get her bag," Lorelai said.

After she gathered everything she thought was April's, she brought the suitcase back to the room April was in and allowed her to get dressed. Lorelai and Sookie quietly slipped out the front door with April, Lorelai got her situated and buckled into the backseat as Sookie loaded April's suitcase into the back.

"I don't feel good," April groaned.

"Well, that's what happens when you drink too much," Lorelai told her.

Not wanting her to throw up in Sookie's car, she opted to go back in the house for something April could use if she needed to throw up. She found a bucket in the laundry room and rinsed it out. On her way back out to the car, she stopped in the living room where most of the people were, looking around the room, she walked over to the stereo system and turned the music down.

"Which one of you is Austin?" She yelled.

A teenager drunkenly raised his hand from where he stood with some friends in the corner. She stomped over to him and grabbed his shirt near the collar and forcefully jerked him forward to where his face was mere inches from hers.

"I'll have you know, what you did tonight was cowardly, it's pretty pathetic that you have to drug an already drunk girl to get her sleep with you," she said loudly, so the whole room could hear her. "You're lucky I don't do what April told you I would do, but if you so much as look at her ever again, you won't only have to worry about me, you'll have to worry about her father too, and I can guarantee, your worst nightmares don't hold a candle to what will happen if he gets a hold of you. Got it?"

"Got it," he whimpered.

"Good."

Lorelai turned on her heels and walked out of the house, bucket in hand. When she got back out to the car, April had already puked in the yard. She helped her back into the car and handed the bucket to her.

"Here, if you puke again, make sure it's in here," Lorelai said before getting in the front seat with Sookie. "Let's get out of here."

Sookie pulled away from the curb and headed back to Stars Hollow. A few minutes into the drive, she glanced over to her best friend, who had her elbow resting on the passenger side door, gingerly rubbing her forehead as April was in the backseat talking incessantly.

"You okay?" Sookie asked Lorelai, lightly touching her shoulder to get her attention.

"Just thinking," Lorelai replied as April continued to talk. "I need to call Anna."

"You can't call my mom," April argued from the backseat. "She can't know what's going on."

"Honey, you ran away from home, she and I have been in constant contact since this afternoon, I told her I would call her to let her know you're okay," Lorelai explained as she pressed the button on her phone to call Anna.

"Did you find her? Is she okay?" Anna asked when she answered the phone.

"She's fine…drunk, but fine otherwise," she told her

"Thank God," Anna said. "Tell her I love her and I'll see her soon."

"Your mom says she loves you and she'll see you soon," Lorelai told April.

"Love you too Mommy, Stepmonster is taking good care of me," April giggled.

"Wow, she is drunk," Anna noted. "Thanks for taking care of her Lorelai, have her call me tomorrow."

"I will."

Once back to the house, Sookie and Lorelai helped April up the stairs and into Luke and Lorelai's room, where Lorelai wanted her in case something happened.

"This isn't my room," April swayed a little before they got her sat down on the bed.

"I know, you're sleeping in here with me tonight," Lorelai said.

"I'll go get her suitcase," Sookie said announced, exiting the room.

Lorelai helped April into one of Luke's t-shirts to sleep in and guided her back to the bed.

"Where's Dad?" April questioned, noticing she was crawling into her parents' bed.

"He's in New Hampshire, remember?" Lorelai said as April flopped onto her stomach. "I need you to roll over onto your side."

"I don't wanna."

"Well, I don't want you to aspirate if you decide to puke in your sleep," Lorelai said, rolling her over.

"It's not like I can make a decision to puke or not, it's not something I can control," April pointed out, her eyes had been closed from the time she got in bed, but she slowly opened them and looked up at Lorelai and grinned. "You're the best Stepmonster in the whole world."

"I'm not sure you're going to be saying that tomorrow," Lorelai muttered, pulling the covers up over her stepdaughter. "Now get some sleep."

"Okay," April's eyes began to drift shut again.

"I'll be right back, kid," she whispered. "I'm gonna go talk to Sookie."

"Okay," April repeated, already half-asleep.

* * *

 **So April got herself into a bit of a pickle. Let me know what you think! Share your thoughts! I do take suggestions from readers on occasion.**


	7. Chapter Six

**Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter! Things definitely start picking up after this chapter and don't slow down for awhile.**

 **Chapter 6**

Lorelai was awakened by the sound of April's groans. She rolled over to face her stepdaughter, who was faced away from her and all but hanging off the bed.

She pressed a hand to her own stomach, willing the nausea to go away. She needed to deal with April without the worry of morning sickness right now. She took a few deep breaths and laid there for a few minutes before the sick feeling began to subside. At that moment, April let out another groan.

"Are you awake?" She whispered.

"Yeah," April murmured, not moving.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, propping herself on her elbow and pulling April's hair away from her face.

"How did I get here?" April countered.

"Well, you called me to come get you at Kayla's last night, so I brought you back here, I wanted you in here with me in case you needed me," Lorelai explained.

April rolled over onto her back and clamped her eyes shut. "Everything is spinning."

"I can imagine," Lorelai nodded, leaning over to the nightstand on her side of the bed and grabbing the water and aspirin from it, handing it to April. "Take this."

"Thanks," April said, leaning up to take the medicine.

"I'm going to run to the diner to get us some breakfast. Any requests?" She asked as she started to get out of bed.

"I don't want anything," April told her.

"Honey, you need to eat, it will make you feel better faster," Lorelai replied, pulling clothes from her closet. "I'll just get a variety of things."

"Can I take a shower?" She asked, sitting up against the headboard with her palm against her forehead, willing the room to stop spinning.

"No, we don't allow showers in this house," Lorelai teased, April cocked her head, giving her a smirk. "Of course, your suitcase is on your bed."

"Is Dad at the diner?" April asked. "Is he gonna kill me?"

Lorelai let out a quiet laugh.

"What's so funny?" April wondered.

"It's just that this is the third time I've told you that your dad is in New Hampshire," Lorelai answered from inside the closet. "And while yes, you're in a load of trouble, your dad doesn't know what's going on, your mom and I agreed not to ruin his weekend with Buddy."

"I'm sorry I ruined your weekend," she told her.

"You didn't ruin my weekend…" Lorelai said, stepping out of the closet to face April. "I'm mad as hell that you would do something like this, but I'm just glad you're safe."

"You think I could stay here for awhile?" She asked.

"That's something you'll have to discuss with your mom, you know this is your home and you're more than welcome to be here as long as you'd like," Lorelai answered. "But know that there are going to be consequences for your actions and you're going to have to earn our trust again whether you're here or New Mexico. So don't think you're going to be getting off easy just because you're here."

"I know," April hung her head.

"I'm going to change and run to the diner, after you take a shower, you need to call your mom," Lorelai said as she stepped back into the large walk in closet to change clothes.

"I'm not calling her," April told her.

"Yes, you are," Lorelai argued, peeking her head around the corner as she hooked her bra. "You have to face the consequences, April."

"She can't even take the time to sit down and talk to me when I'm in the same house, why should I give her the time of day when I'm all the way across the country?" April asked, raising her voice slightly.

"April, I know your mom is busy with your grandmother, but she's your mother, and she loves you and she's worried about you," Lorelai said, emerging from the closet fully dressed. "So you either call her after you get out of the shower or we're calling her after breakfast, it's your choice."

"We'll call her after breakfast," April muttered, getting out of bed.

"I love you kid," Lorelai said, pulling April into a side hug, shuddering as she smelled the stench of alcohol. "But you reek…go shower. I'll be back in a little while."

By the time Lorelai returned, April had showered and was downstairs drinking a cup of coffee.

"That's my girl," She grinned, sitting down diner bag down on the counter. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better than I did before you left," April admitted.

"Yeah, there's something about a shower that makes you feel a little more human," she told her, pulling containers of food from the bags.

"You think you got enough food?" April asked, looking at the amounts of food she brought home.

The truth was, Lorelai wasn't sure what she herself would be able to stomach, so she had Cesar make a little of everything. Since neither of them felt like eating much, they finished quickly and April tried to make a break for it when Lorelai was putting away the rest of the food.

"Stop right there young lady," she said without turning away from the task at hand.

"I was just going to the study to read," April said innocently.

"No, we're calling your mom before we do anything else today," Lorelai told her, grabbing the phone and sitting down on a barstool.

"I'm not talking to her," April argued as she came over to take a seat next to Lorelai.

"Then let's go to the airport right now, you're going home," she told her.

"No!"

"Then you're going to talk to your mom, I'm not putting up with this April," Lorelai raised her voice.

"Fine," April grumbled.

Lorelai dialed Anna's number, Anna quickly answered on the other end.

"April?"

"No, it's Lorelai," she replied. "April's right here though, she wants to talk to you."

"No, I don't," April said as Lorelai handed the phone to her. "Mother..."

Lorelai went upstairs to gather clothes, then came back downstairs to start some laundry. As she walked through the family room, she could hear April's voice coming from the office. She could tell she was arguing with Anna, telling her when she's not with April's grandmother, she's with "him." _Was Anna seeing someone?_ she thought. Continuing with the task at hand, Lorelai went into the laundry room, she heard April raise her voice a few different times while she was on the phone.

"Lorelai," April's voice called out.

"I'm in the laundry room," Lorelai replied.

April appeared in the laundry room and handed the phone to Lorelai. "She wants to talk to you."

"Okay," Lorelai said as she took the phone. "Hey Anna."

April quickly turned to leave the room.

"How dare you!" Anna roared on the other end.

"Excuse me?" Lorelai wondered why Anna was mad at her.

"Telling her she could stay there!" She continued. "I'm her mother, she lives with me! If anyone there had a say, it would be Luke, not you! Not to mention the fact that she's not supposed to be there until later in the summer."

"Anna, I think you're misunderstanding this whole thing," Lorelai said calmly.

"No, I understand it just fine, you're wanting to be the cool parent who lets her off the hook for flying across the country to go to a party without permission," Anna told her. "And you're acting like it's no big deal!"

"Anna, listen…" Lorelai paused, waiting for Anna to continue her rant, when the other end of the line was silent, she continued. "I told April that this is her home just as much as it is mine, Luke's or Rory's, and she's welcome here whenever she wants, but that was something she would have to talk to you about. And just because she's here doesn't mean she won't have consequences. I told her that when her dad got home, her punishment would be discussed between the three of us, but if it's something you want to discuss with Luke alone, that's fine. I also reminded her that she screwed up and she was going to have to earn our trust again."

"So you plan on just keeping her until he gets home tomorrow?" Anna wondered. "I want my kid on a plane today!"

"Anna, before I called you, she said she wasn't talking to you and I told her I was taking her to the airport, I don't have a problem with that, I realize she's your kid, that's something that's been thrown in my face the entire time she's been a part of my life," Lorelai said. "I love April like she's my own and I want what's best for her, but I'm not trying to take your place, I thought we were over this a long time ago."

Anna whimpered, and Lorelai could tell she was crying. "It's just that she wants nothing to do with me, she'd rather stay with her stepmom."

"I know how it feels to feel like the dad's wife is taking my daughter away…I thought Rory's father's wife was trying to take my place and it hurts, but that's not what I'm trying to do," Lorelai said. "I know that tensions are running high right now, it might be better for both of you to calm down before we send her home, but like I said, if it's what you want, I'll book her a ticket home now. I didn't just tell her she could stay here like I had the right to tell her that, I told her she had to talk to you first."

"She hates me," Anna cried.

"Well, most teenage girls go through that," Lorelai reminded her. "Although Rory was almost 21 when that happened with her."

"How did you deal with it?" Anna sniffled.

"I stayed away, she was an adult and she had to work through her issues on her own terms," Lorelai answered, they were both quiet for a moment. "May I ask if there's something more going on? I know you're busy with your mom, and I understand that, but that's something you've had on your plate since you moved there, I don't know why it would just now become an issue for April now."

"Truthfully, I think it's because of this guy I'm seeing, that's when we started growing apart, I didn't spend that much time with him in the beginning, but I've been wracking my brain and that's when she started pulling away, wanting to spend more time with friends, so I had more free time, and I started spending it with Brent," Anna explained.

"So she doesn't like Brent?" Lorelai asked as she leaned against the counter in the laundry room.

"You know I've always been against bringing other people into April's life, but as she's gotten older, I've slacked up on that rule a little, it was still quite awhile before he got to meet her," Anna told her. "But she seemed to like him, or at least she pretended to like him."

"I see…well, that could be it, we could have a jealous teenager on our hands," Lorelai sighed.

"She wouldn't tell me what happened last night, what did you get out of her?" Anna asked

"She got drunk, and the guy she came up here to see tried to drug her and have sex with her," Lorelai replied.

"Who is he? I'm gonna kill him."

"His name is Austin, I didn't get a last name, but she kicked him in the balls and told him I would cut his penis off if he didn't leave her alone," Lorelai replied, they both laughed a little at the thought. "Anyway, when I got there, she was in a guest bedroom in just a bra and panties, he had ripped her shirt off and took her jeans, she was very visibly shaken up about it, and thank god she had enough sense to not drink what he was giving her, and to fight him off."

"Thank you for taking care of her, Lorelai," Anna said. "And I'm sorry for the things I said, I know you have April's best interest at heart, and you love her like she's your own daughter…I honestly don't think I could ask for a better Stepmonster for my daughter."

Lorelai laughed again at April's nickname for her that she started using as soon as she and Luke were married, because she knew her stepmom was anything but. "No need to apologize, like I said, I understand where you're coming from." She said. "And I'll let you know when I find out when Luke's coming home tomorrow, and we can figure everything out once he's here. In the meantime, should I ground her from her phone or anything?"

"Yeah, get her phone and her laptop," Anna sighed.

"So we're all good? Nothing left unsaid? You want me to head to the airport?" Lorelai asked.

"No, I think I got it all out, and no, let her cool off, then we'll figure it out," Anna replied.

"Will do," Lorelai said. "And I will talk to you tomorrow."

Once she ended her call, she went to go track down April, finding her upstairs in her room packing her suitcase.

"What are you doing?" Lorelai asked as she sat down on April's bed next to Paul Anka.

"I figured I should pack so we could head to the airport," April replied, methodically folding the clothes Lorelai had quickly tossed into her suitcase the night before.

"Do you have a flight booked?" Lorelai asked.

"No, I figured you or Mom would have one booked by now," April said.

"You're staying at least until your dad gets home tomorrow and we can discuss everything," Lorelai replied. "Unless you're ready to go home."

"No!" April exclaimed.

"In that case, give me your phone and laptop," Lorelai said, holding out her hand.

"I knew that was coming," April exhaled, handing her phone over, then pulling her laptop from her bag and placing it on the bed next to Lorelai. "Can I go to the bookstore?"

"No, you're not going anywhere until we figure out a punishment, I know I've been lenient on you up until now, but that's partially because of the state you were in last night," Lorelai explained. "But April, I meant what I said when I told you that you would have to earn our trust back. You ran away from home, you hid when I came to Kayla's looking for you yesterday, you went to a party we explicitly said you couldn't go to, you had us worried sick."

"I'm sorry," April hung her head as she sat down on her bed on the other side of her suitcase.

"I figured you were at Kayla's, but not knowing for sure, I had a million thoughts going through my head," she had tears threatening to spill down her cheeks as she continued. "And when you called me last night, I was so relieved to hear your voice…but when I heard the panic in your voice, even through the alcohol, I was terrified. All the way to Meriden I had to worry about the condition I would find you in. And I was kicking myself for not coming into the house yesterday afternoon and dragging you out."

"I messed up, I'm sorry, I know that isn't enough, but I really am," April said, reaching over to take Lorelai's hand, they were both crying now. "And believe me, it's not something I'm going to be doing again…I don't like the feeling of not having control of all my faculties, I was mad at Mom, and mad at you and Dad for not letting me go to the party that I went a little overboard. I had drank before, but not like that. So believe me when I say that I don't plan on drinking again until I'm legal and maybe not even then."

"Music to a parent's ears," Lorelai smiled

The next afternoon, Lorelai had just walked downstairs after her shower. She had gone to look in on April in the study when the house phone began to ring. She went into the kitchen to grab it from the base on the counter, seeing it was Luke's number, she smiled.

"Hey babe," Lorelai answered.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Luke asked. "Have you had a relaxing weekend at home by yourself?"

"I wouldn't call it relaxing," Lorelai said as she pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator, even coffee didn't sound good to her. "I've felt bad most of the morning, so I finally made myself get out of bed and take a shower."

"Is it the morning sickness?" He wondered.

"I don't know, my stomach hurts, my back hurts, and I've felt gross all morning, and I think my blood pressure is high, but I can't find that cuff to check it," she told him, going into the living room to sit down on the couch.

"Lorelai…" he sighed.

"I know, I'm trying to keep it down, that's why I stayed in bed all morning," she said.

Truth be told, she had noticed light spotting when she got up that morning. She tried to tell herself that everything would be okay, so she laid in bed until she couldn't lay in bed anymore. She kept going back and forth between being hot and cold. The spotting didn't get any worse, but it hadn't gone away. It had happened weeks before the first miscarriage, and it was revealed that it was just the egg implanting in her uterus, and she hoped that's what was happening now. She didn't want to worry Luke any more than she already had, so she didn't mention it.

"Well, Buddy and I are in Meredith getting ready to head out, so we'll be home soon, I'll bring something home for dinner," Luke told her.

"Okay," she agreed.

"Sit on the couch and watch movies all day or something," he suggested.

"Okay," she repeated.

"We should be there in about four hours," he said.

"Okay, that should be about 4:30 or 5," she said, looking at the clock on the wall. "I have a surprise for you when you get here."

"Oh yeah?" He asked curiously.

"Yep, I'll see you when you get home," she told him. "Bye, I love you."

"I love you too," he replied. "Bye."

She hung up the phone, and without moving from the couch, Lorelai called out "April, you wanna watch a movie with me?!"

"Sure," she called back, saving her spot in the book and placing it on the end table in the study, then going into the family room where Lorelai was.

Since things had calmed down, they had only left the house to go to the diner for lunch the day before. Sookie had brought them dinner the night before, even after Lorelai told her she didn't need to. Other than that, they had stayed at home doing nothing. Lorelai did a few things around the house including laundry, while April was back and forth between reading in the study and playing with Paul Anka in the back yard. It was nice, and while Lorelai was anxious for her husband's return, she was dreading his reaction to what April had done.

April came in and plopped down on the couch next to Lorelai as they searched the guide on the TV to find a movie to watch. After agreeing upon one, April grabbed a large quilt from the chest in the corner and covered it over herself and Lorelai, leaning her head on her shoulder.

Lorelai smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of April's head before resting her cheek on April's head. It had been so long since she had had a girls' day with either of the girls. Every time they were in town, they were either overbooked or Luke and Jess were there. Not that she was complaining, but sometimes she longed for the days when she and Rory could just sit at home and have movie marathons. After she and Luke married, and April was a constant in their lives, the two of them had grown very close. And for that Lorelai was thankful.

They had been sitting there watching the movie for awhile when Lorelai pulled the blanket tighter around her as a chill went through her body.

"Are you feeling okay?" April lifted her head to look at her stepmom.

"Yeah, why?" Lorelai shrugged.

"You stayed in bed until almost noon, then you took a really long shower, you haven't even had coffee, and…" April pressed her palm to Lorelai's forehead. "I think you have a fever."

"No, I'm—" before Lorelai could finish her sentence, the dull ache in her abdomen turned into a sharp shooting pain. "Owww!"

"Lorelai, what's wrong?" April asked, holding her hand out for Lorelai to grab, which she did. "Do I need to take you to the hospital? Call Dad maybe?"

She gripped April's hand tightly as she squeezed her eyes shut, her brows furrowed. When the pain subsided a little, she took a deep breath.

"April…I need you to stay calm," she said, unsure of how to throw this at her without having her freak out. "I think I may be having a miscarriage, and I need you to take me to Hartford where my doctor is."

"What?!" April screeched. "Why didn't you tell me you're pregnant?"

"Because I wanted to spare you from having to go through this again," Lorelai said, doubling over in pain as she remained on the couch. "If you don't think you can take me, I'll call Sookie."

"No, I'll take you," April said. "I'm going to run upstairs to get my shoes. You need anything from up there?"

"My cell phone, it's on the nightstand next to the bed, and yours is on the dresser if you want to take it, you may need to," she told her.

April bolted upstairs as Lorelai went into the mud room to put some shoes on and get her purse. Realizing it would probably be cold in the hospital, she started to grab a jacket.

"Here, wear this," April said, appearing in the mud room with one of her dad's flannel shirts. "It will make you feel better."

Lorelai smiled at her thoughtfulness, letting April help her into the shirt, not bothering to button it over the black tank top she had on. April helped her into the Armada and climbed in the driver's seat. Surprisingly, she remained calm on the outside, but all it took was one look in her eyes, and she knew April was torn up on the inside. They were silent during the drive. Lorelai was trying to get up the courage to call Luke so he could meet them at the hospital. Finally, she just decided to do it.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Luke…" Lorelai murmured, trying not to cry or sound panicked, but Luke knew her all too well.

"Lorelai, what happened? Is it the baby? Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm uh…" her voice wavered, and she bit her bottom lip, almost hard enough to bring blood, letting out a long breath, she continued. "I think I'm miscarrying. Can you meet me in Hartford at the hospital?"

"Of course…who's taking you?" He asked, she hesitated. "Don't tell me you're driving yourself."

"I'm not," she replied hesitantly. "April is taking me."

"April? What is she doing there?" Luke asked, then realized. "Oh god, she didn't go to the party…"

"She did, but Luke, that's handled for now, I hate to be selfish, but I need you right now," she admitted, tears once again streaming down her face.

"I'm on my way," he said. "Can you put the phone on speaker so I can talk to April?"

"Luke…"

"I'm not going to get into it with her right now, I just need to tell her something," he replied.

"He wants to talk to you," Lorelai whispered to April as she pressed the speaker button.

"Hi Dad," she said.

"Hey sweetie," he replied. "I know you've only had your license for a few months, so I need you to drive carefully, get Lorelai there in one piece, please."

"I will Dad," she assured him.

"She's doing great," Lorelai added.

"I love you both, I'll see you soon," Luke said.

"Love you Daddy," April replied.

"Love you too," Lorelai said at the same time.

* * *

 **So not exactly what Luke expected to come home to. Let me know what you think!**


	8. Chapter Seven

**So I figured since I left it at a bit of a cliffhanger in the last chapter, I would give you this chapter a littler earlier in the week. Thank you for your continued support. Please read the additional note at the end of the chapter =)**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Upon their arrival at the hospital, Lorelai was immediately taken into an exam room, and hooked up to multiple monitors before waiting to see her doctor, who happened to be on call. April stayed right by her side the whole time.

"I need to call Rory," Lorelai said.

"You rest, I'll call her," April ordered, pulling her phone from her pocket.

"She's going to want to rush out here, tell her we can wait until this weekend to see her," Lorelai said, April nodded.

She stepped out into the hall, leaving Lorelai to her thoughts.

"April? Are you okay?" Rory asked. "Mom said some guy tried to take advantage of you at that party the other night."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," April replied. "Listen…your mom, she thinks she's having a miscarriage, so we're in Hartford at the hospital, Dad's on his way back from New Hampshire, he's meeting us here."

"Oh no," Rory knew her mom must be devastated. "I'm on my way, tell her I love her and I'll be there soon."

"No, she said to have you wait until this weekend," April told her.

"Are you sure?" Rory asked. "I can be there in a couple hours."

"That's what she said," April replied.

"Okay," Rory said sadly.

"She's strong, she's going to make it through this, no matter what happens," April assured her.

"Yeah," Rory agreed.

The line was silent for a few moments before April spoke up.

"Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there anyone else I should call?" She asked.

"No, my grandparents don't know she's pregnant, and they are out of town, Mom wouldn't want them there obsessing over her anyway," Rory answered.

"Right," April said.

"Well, you better get back to her, keep me updated," Rory told her.

"I will," April told her.

After saying their goodbyes, April turned to go back into the room with Lorelai when she heard her name being called. Looking up, she saw her dad coming down the hallway.

"Dad!" She exclaimed, running to him and throwing her arms around him.

"I'm so glad you're here," he said, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "How's she doing?"

"She's been pretty calm so far, she's scared," April explained as she led him back to the room Lorelai was in. "We're waiting for her doctor."

"How are you doing?" He asked, leaning back to take a look at his daughter, whom he hadn't seen since Christmas.

"I'm okay…it's not a weekend I'd like to repeat any time soon, but I'm happy I was able to be here for her," April replied, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"Who all knows what's going on?" Luke questioned.

"Just us…and Rory, I just got off the phone with her," April explained. "I don't even think Lorelai's texted Sookie."

Luke nodded in response before April guided him to the exam room Lorelai was in.

"Lorelai," he said softly when they opened the door.

She looked up at him and burst into tears, he went to her, sitting on the edge of her hospital bed, pulling her into him.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she cried.

"Ssshh, there's nothing to be sorry for," he told her, tears pricking his eyes. "We don't even know what's going on for sure."

"I know my body Luke, I'm miscarrying and there's nothing I can do to fix it," she continued to cry.

"Let's see what the doctor has to say, and we can deal with it accordingly…as a family," Luke said, reaching his hand out to April as he kept his other arm securely around his wife.

April smiled faintly as she took her father's hand. Without lifting her head from Luke's chest, Lorelai looked to her stepdaughter.

"She's been great through all of this," she told her husband. "Calm and collected, doing everything she could to make sure I've been taken care of."

"Thank you for doing this," Luke said sincerely to April, squeezing her hand.

"It's the least I could do after everything I put her through this weekend," she replied.

"Where's Buddy?"

"He's driving my truck back to the house and Maisy is going to pick him up there," Luke explained.

Just then, Lorelai's doctor walked in.

"Lorelai," she greeted somberly.

"Hi Dr. Meadows," she said, sitting up as Luke got off the bed, Lorelai tightly gripped his hand, not letting him go too far.

"Let's see what's going on," Dr. Meadows said as she started putting on gloves.

"I'm going to wait in the hall," April said as she quickly started for the door.

"I'll come get you in a bit," he replied before she left.

"So you've been having pain and spotting?" Dr. Meadows asked.

"Yeah, I didn't feel great when I woke up this morning, I had cramps and an achy stomach, it wasn't like morning sickness, it just hurt," Lorelai explained. "And then I noticed the spotting, and I know that happened before and it was just my uterus making room for the baby, so I was hoping that's what it was. I laid in bed most of the morning, and this afternoon I was watching a movie with my stepdaughter, and the ache in my stomach turned into a sharp pain."

"Well, let's get an ultrasound machine in here and see," she told Lorelai a few moments later, taking her gloves off and looking up to Luke and Lorelai. "I'll be right back."

"What's that mean?" Luke whispered as the doctor left the room.

"I'm not sure," Lorelai whispered back.

When she came back with the machine, Luke helped Lorelai get situated so the lower half of her body was covered with a sheet as Lorelai pulled her hospital gown above her abdomen.

Lorelai took a nervous breath as Luke resumed his spot on the stool, resting his elbows on his knees and taking Lorelai's right hand in both of his. He brought their hands to his mouth and kissed her fingers, keeping them against his lips. She looked over and gave him a weak smile.

"I love you," he said.

Before she could say it back, the doctor squirted the gel on Lorelai's stomach, causing her to jump.

"Sorry," Dr. Meadows said as she used the doppler to spread the gel around.

After a few moments of looking around, the small spot appeared on the screen, Lorelai began to cry again. At first glance, everything looked okay. Then she realized…

"There's no heartbeat," she said, it was a statement, not a question. She knew.

"Let me check from a different angle, sometimes that's what it takes for the doppler to pick it up," Dr. Meadows said.

Lorelai turned her head away from the screen, closing her eyes tightly. He still had their hands pressed to his lips, his eyes were also closed.

Dr. Meadows continued to try to find the heartbeat for the next few minutes, then began looking at the baby's measurements. The room was silent during that time.

"Lorelai…" she finally spoke as she put away the doppler and used a towel to wipe the gel from her stomach, Luke and Lorelai both looked up, she squeezed his hand tightly. "Based on the calculations from your initial appointment, the baby should now be measuring right at 11 weeks 1 day, but it's measuring right at 10 weeks, and as you could tell, I couldn't find a heartbeat."

Lorelai hung her head as she let out an audible sob. Luke held onto her hand with one of his as the other came up to squeeze her shoulder as he also began to cry. Dr. Meadows gave them a moment before she continued.

"Based on the pelvic exam, it looks as if the membranes surrounding the fetus have ruptured…probably around that ten week mark, but your body is just now trying to expel the fetus," Dr. Meadows explained. "Since it's been a little over a week, and based on the symptoms you've had, it seems as though you may have an infection caused by this. I'd like to go ahead and get you started on some IV antibiotics. We need to perform a D&C to remove the rest of the tissue to avoid making the infection worse."

"We can't just let it happen naturally like the last time?" Luke wondered.

"Unfortunately, that would put Lorelai's health at risk," Dr. Meadows answered.

"It's okay," Lorelai said to Luke calmly, taking her hand from his and putting it on his bicep. "It has to be done."

"Okay," he nodded, placing his thumb and middle finger over his eyes, willing the tears to stop.

"I'll give you two a minute and go get the paperwork together," Dr. Meadows told them before exiting the room.

"Babe…" Lorelai said, when Luke didn't look up at her, she moved her hand to his shoulder blade and pulled him into her, his arms went around her waist, holding her tightly.

They sat there, crying softly as they held each other, Lorelai running her fingers through Luke's hair. The first time this had happened, Luke tried to be strong for her, which led to a big blow up between the two of them when Lorelai foolishly believed he didn't care about the baby as much as she did. This time there was no question, his heart was in this as much as hers, and he needed her as much as she needed him.

A nurse returned to start the IV, and have Lorelai sign the paperwork as Dr. Meadows explained what would happen during the procedure. Luke went to get April as they prepped Lorelai to move her to an operating room. When they came back, a nurse was wheeling Lorelai's gurney from the room. Luke held Lorelai's hand as they went down corridor after corridor. Finally, the nurse pointed out the waiting area before continuing to the end of the hall.

April stepped up and took her stepmom by the hand. "See you in a little bit."

"Love you kid," Lorelai said.

"Love you too, Stepmonster," April replied.

"I'll be right here waiting for you," Luke told her, leaning down to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you," Lorelai replied, pushing back her tears.

Luke watched as the nurse wheeled his wife through the double doors. Once the doors closed, he and April turned to go back to the waiting room. It was nearly empty, seeing as it was nearing 6 PM. They sat down in some of the chairs along the wall. Luke reached over and squeezed April's knee.

"So…" he began. "You wanna tell me how you ended up here? From the beginning."

"I messed up," she sighed. "I bought that plane ticket with my birthday money, and instead of going to school Friday morning, I had one of my friends take me to the airport. I guess Mom called Lorelai after I didn't come home from school, and Lorelai came to Kayla's house that afternoon looking for me, knowing that's who was having the party."

"Please tell me she embarrassed the hell out of you and dragged you out," Luke chuckled at the thought.

"No, I hid…she knew I was there, of course, but she pretended she didn't," April continued. "That night, I had too much to drink, and the guy I had been talking to a lot lately, he tried to take advantage of me, but I kicked him in the balls, he got mad and left, and I called Lorelai to come pick me up, she did, and she grounded me from my phone and computer, but you guys were supposed to discuss further punishment with my mom once you got home from your trip."

"Why didn't they try to get a hold of me before now?" Luke wondered aloud.

"Lorelai didn't want to interrupt your trip for something that she said would be handled the same way in a couple days," April explained.

"Look, I don't know what's going on back home, but you can't be doing this," Luke said sternly, but not raising his voice. "The situation with the guy could've been a lot worse, he could've taken advantage of you, you could've gotten alcohol poisoning, or a number of other things. That's why we told you 'no' in the first place, to shield you from stuff like that happening."

"I know," she said remorsefully. "I'm sorry, I can promise you it's not going to happen again."

"It better not," Luke said. "I'm surprised your mom didn't have you on the first flight home."

"She wanted to, but Lorelai knew how mad we both were, so she convinced mom to let me stay at least until you got home," April explained.

"Well, I should probably call her if she was expecting a call from us tonight," Luke said as he started to get up from his chair.

"It's okay, I'll call her," April offered.

April had called Anna, who was very understanding and sympathetic about the situation. She had also called Rory to update her on everything. Rory wanted more than anything to rush to Hartford to be there for her mom, but knew she would see her in a few days. After finishing with the calls, April returned to the waiting room with her dad.

"Regardless of what you did, I'm glad you were able to be here for Lorelai, I know it was a big comfort to her, having you here," Luke told his daughter.

"It's no big deal," April shrugged.

"It _is_ a big deal," Luke said. "You were there for Lorelai when she needed you the most, you made sure she was taken care of when I know you were freaking out on the inside."

"I was," April admitted.

"But you pushed that aside for her," he pointed out. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said modestly.

About an hour after they had walked into the waiting room, Dr. Meadows came to get them to see Lorelai in recovery, she explained that everything went as planned, there were no complications, and they were going to release her after her time in recovery.

"Hey, how do you feel?" Luke asked cautiously as they stepped into the curtained cubicle she was in.

"Nauseous," Lorelai answered groggily, holding up the bag they had given her in case she threw up.

"Dr. Meadows said there were no complications," Luke explained, sitting in the chair next to the gurney. "They're going to let you go home after you spend a little time in recovery, you'll have to keep taking antibiotics to fight the infection."

"We were supposed to call Anna," Lorelai said, her head back on the pillow with her eyes closed.

"I called her," April stepped up as she sat Lorelai's purse at the foot of Lorelai's bed.

"You called her?" Lorelai asked, surprised, lifting her head up to look at April.

"I did," she confirmed. "She sends her condolences, and wants one of us to call her tomorrow."

"Can I have some Sprite?" Lorelai asked, pointing to the cup on the bedside table.

Luke picked up the cup and held the straw up to Lorelai's mouth for her to drink. Once she was finished, he sat it back down.

"I'm going to step out in the hall, I promised Rory I'd call her back when you got out of surgery," April said.

"Tell her I love her and we'll see her and Jess on Friday," Lorelai told her.

"I will," April said before she disappeared behind the curtain.

Luke turned back to Lorelai, fresh tears in his eyes.

"Hold me, Luke," she requested.

Luke sat on the edge of the bed wrapping his arms around her as she did the same to him.

"We're going to make it through this, Lorelai," he kissed the top of her head. "It's not going to be easy, but as long as we stick together, we're going to make it."

She was silent, but he felt her body shaking and he knew she was crying.

"You may be Wonder Woman, but even this is too much for you to bear on your own, I want you to lean on me, let me take care of you," Luke continued as tears streamed down his own cheeks and he rubbed her back.

It seemed like an eternity before she lifted her head and spoke. "I love you Luke, but you can't carry us both through this, we have to lean on each other, take care of each other."

"I agree," he nodded.

"We do this as a family," she added, looking up at him and seeing the heartache in his features, she pulled him into her as his body began to tremble, she continued to cry as Luke's sobs became more audible. "My strong, beautiful man."

When April returned from calling Rory, she could hear her dad crying when she got to the curtain. It broke her heart. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him cry like that. She could hear Lorelai speaking softly to him. April stood there for a few minutes until she heard their sobs subside before stepping into the cubicle.

"Hey kid," Lorelai said to her, she and Luke still holding onto each other, but Luke wiped the tears from his face before turning to look at his daughter.

"Sorry, I can go back to the waiting room if I need to," April said.

"Of course not," Lorelai replied, wiping the tears from her own cheeks. "Is Rory okay?"

"She sounded upset, but that's a given," April replied sadly. "She said she loves both of you and she can't wait to get here."

"I can't either," Lorelai smiled, suddenly a wave of nausea overcame her. "April, do you have a ponytail holder?"

"Yeah, I have the one they took out of your hair," April said, holding up her wrist.

"Can you help me pull my hair up? I think I might be getting sick again," Lorelai said, grabbing the bag they gave her to throw up in.

"Sure," April replied, pulling the ponytail holder from her wrist and quickly pulling Lorelai's hair into a knot on top of her head.

Luke let out a laugh at the sight of his wife with a large knot of hair on top of her head.

"I can take it back down and you can clean puke out of my hair tonight," Lorelai told him seriously.

"No thanks," Luke shook his head. "It's beautiful."

Soon, the wave passed without Lorelai throwing up, but she left her hair up in case it happened again.

It was after 9 PM when they finally released Lorelai from the hospital. Luke pulled the Armada to the hospital entrance and helped her in as April got in the back seat.

"We need to stop by the 24-hour pharmacy to pick up your prescriptions," he said as they pulled out onto the street. "Is there anywhere else we need to go before we head home?"

"I'm kinda hungry," April said from the back seat.

"Okay," he nodded, glancing over to Lorelai. "Are you hungry?"

"Not really," Lorelai replied. "But get April something."

"What do you want to eat?" He asked his daughter, looking in the rearview mirror at her.

"Just go where you need to go for the pharmacy and if I see something I want, I'll let you know," April told him.

He drove to the nearest 24-hour pharmacy, which had a Chipotle next door, so April just went there to get something to eat. She offered to get something for Luke and Lorelai, but neither of them wanted anything.

Once back to the house, April carried their stuff in as Luke helped Lorelai upstairs and into bed. She reminded him that April had her cell phone, and that she was supposed to be grounded from it. He started to go downstairs, but noticed the light was on in her bedroom.

"Lorelai said you're grounded from your cell phone," Luke said as he appeared in her doorway.

"She said I could take it with me to the hospital," April replied, handing it over to him.

"I know, she told me that, you're not in trouble, I just needed to come get it," he said. "You know, if you need to talk, you can talk to either of us."

"I know."

"We realize that this affects you and Rory too, so we don't want you to feel like you can't come to us because of what we're going through," Luke added.

"I love you, Dad," she said, hugging him unexpectedly. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused this weekend."

"It's okay, like I said before, I'm glad you did it, because you were able to be here for Lorelai when she needed you most," Luke smiled, hugging her back. "And I love you too."

The next morning, Luke was up at his usual time, he went in to open the diner, once he had things prepped, he let Cesar know what was going on. Cesar insisted he go home to be with Lorelai. Once he got home, he went upstairs to check on Lorelai, but she was in the shower. He went back downstairs to call Buddy and Maisy to let them know what was going on. As expected, there were more tears, Maisy told him if there was anything they could do, to let them know. They ended the call, and shortly thereafter, Luke heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Who were you talking to?" She asked, coming into the kitchen where he was already brewing a pot of coffee.

"Buddy and Maisy," Luke said, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Did Buddy make it home okay last night?" She asked, going over and kissing him lightly.

"Yeah, he did," he nodded, putting his arms around her. "They send their love."

"We'll have to go see them when I feel a little better," she said. "I need to call Sookie to let her know I'm not coming in today."

"I'll call her if you'd like," he offered, knowing how much she dreaded telling people, luckily Sookie was the only one left to tell.

"No, I need to," she replied, patting his chest with both hands. "Besides, I'm sure you don't want to answer the millions of questions she'll have for you."

"You're right, I don't," he admitted, letting go of her. "You want some coffee?"

"Sure," she answered as she grabbed the phone from the base.

Luke poured coffee in the oversized mug, then turned to hand it to her.

"Thank you," Lorelai smiled, inhaling the scent. "I've missed your coffee the last few days."

"I've missed making coffee for you the last few days," he countered with a smile as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

"I'm going to go out on the back porch to call Sookie," she said, turning to go toward the back door.

"Okay, I'll get started on breakfast," Luke smiled. "Anything in particular you want?"

"No, I still don't feel great," Lorelai said. "But April is going to want French toast."

"Got it," he noted.

Since it was a nice morning, Lorelai left the French doors leading to the back porch open. She crossed the porch, and sat in one of the rocking chairs there, taking a sip of her coffee as she looked out onto their backyard. She made a mental note to get the seeds planted for their garden as soon as she felt well enough to do so. She smiled at the sight of the chuppah Luke had built all those years ago. Not only had they gotten married under it two years ago, it was now almost completely covered in wisteria and used as an entrance to the garden. She placed her coffee mug on the table between the two chairs and began to dial her best friend's number without hesitancy, but once the line began to ring, she had a lump in her throat.

"Hello?" Sookie answered, she could hear kids in the background.

"Hey Sookie, it's me," Lorelai said, her voice cracking.

"Hey, what's up?" Sookie asked, sounding a little distracted.

Lorelai knew she was getting kids ready for school, so she decided to make it quick. "I'm not going to be able to make it into work today," she answered.

"What? Why? Are you sick?" Sookie questioned.

"Not really, I—" Lorelai tried to fight the tears, but it was no use. "Sookie, I lost the baby."

"Oh sweetie," Sookie said as she began to cry for her friend. "You need me to come over?"

"No, Luke and April are here, you go take care of the Dragonfly, let Michel know I won't be in," Lorelai requested.

"I will," Sookie said. "But I'll be by this afternoon."

"Okay," Lorelai replied.

"You wanna talk about it?" Sookie asked cautiously.

"I feel like a failure Sookie," Lorelai cried into the phone.

"Honey, you're not a failure," Sookie replied.

"I am, ever since Luke almost bought the Twickham house, all we've wanted is kids, kids together," Lorelai told her as she continued to cry quietly. "I know Rory's practically his, and I love April like my own, but we wanted kids we could raise together. And I can't even manage to give Luke that."

"He's not—is he blaming you for this?" Sookie wondered.

"No, he's being perfect, but it's my fault I can't stay pregnant," Lorelai said. "I can't give him the one thing a wife should give their husband."

"Lorelai, that man loves you more than I've ever seen a man love anything," Sookie said. "And I can guarantee that his love for you isn't contingent on you having his baby."

"I know, but I just feel so guilty for not being able to give him that," Lorelai cried.

"Have you talked to him about this?" Sookie asked.

"No."

"Maybe you should," she suggested. "Because he's going to tell you exactly what I just told you."

"Sookie…"

"Yeah?"

"You're the best best friend in the world," she said. "I better let you get kids to school and daycare."

"I'm coming by later," Sookie reminded her.

* * *

 **So I know the events of this chapter were not what you were hoping. And I know some of you voiced your thoughts on how it was depressing to see Lorelai (and Luke) experience another miscarriage. I agree. And I came really close to changing it because of how y'all felt about it. But I felt that it was a bit of a turning point in the story. As I told one of your fellow readers, I didn't feel as if just mentioning she had the earlier miscarriage held the emotional factor that it did if you experienced it with her in the present (so to speak). I know this may make you want to stop reading, but if you hang in there, I promise there are lots of happier times coming. Luke and Lorelai will grow stronger because of this, and you will see them and the girls come together as a family.**

 **Please continue to leave your thoughts. I really appreciate the honesty, and I definitely take your thoughts and opinions into consideration as I move forward with the story.**


	9. Chapter Eight

**Sorry for such a delay! I've been working out of town the last couple weeks, and have had no time to update. But here you go, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter 8**

After breakfast, Lorelai sent a text message to Anna to see if she was up, asking if they could call to discuss April since April was still asleep. She responded stating that it was fine. Luke and Lorelai went into the study, shutting the door and sitting down on one of the leather couches. He dialed Anna's number and put the call on speaker phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Anna, it's us," Luke said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well, considering my daughter just ran away," Anna replied. "That doesn't really matter, how are you and Lorelai?"

"We're coping," Lorelai replied.

"April was absolutely heartbroken when I talked to her last night," Anna revealed. "I'm sorry about the baby, that's something no one should ever have to experience."

Lorelai looked to her husband sadly, he decided to change the subject quickly.

"So we need to discuss consequences for April, but first I want to know when you're wanting her home," he said.

"I'd like her home today, but as I had discussed with Lorelai, April is very upset with me, and I am with her too," Anna explained. "I've thought about it a lot the last couple of days, and if it's okay with you, I'd like to have her stay in Connecticut for at least a week or so, but if that's going to mess things up for you guys, she can come home. I know we have a schedule, but I was hoping we could move it around a little. I just don't think having her here right now is the best idea, I can't keep her under my thumb, and she has some friends here who are bad influences, it would become a hostile environment and that isn't good for my mom as sick as she is."

"Right," Luke replied. "So you'd want to have her stay a week or so now and then come back for the rest of her time at the end of the summer?"

"Yeah, or she can do her full six weeks now, or if you want, she can stay a week now and still get her six weeks at the end of summer, whatever is easiest for you guys, I know I'm asking a lot," Anna said.

"Not at all," Lorelai replied. "I think it would be good for April if she were here right now, she's grieving over the baby too, and I think it might be easier for her to deal with if she's dealing with it with us. Not that you wouldn't be there for her, but we're going through it, so we know some of the things she's feeling."

"I agree," Anna said. "So what kind of time frame works for you?"

"Well, we're going to New Hampshire this weekend, and we were hoping she could join us," Luke said. "So maybe a couple weeks?"

"Could we play it by ear?" Lorelai asked. "If she wants to go ahead and stay the full six weeks now, she can. And if she's ready to come home early, we can arrange for that."

"You didn't have any big plans for her for the end of summer or anything?" Anna asked.

"Not that we can't arrange to do while she's here now," Luke answered. "Of course she's going to be grounded for at least a couple weeks, so she won't be doing much during that time."

"Right," Anna agreed. "So you're thinking about two weeks?"

"I don't know, you're usually the disciplinarian," Luke said. "What do you think?"

"I think that's fair, based on what Lorelai told me, how upset April was when she went to get her, and then going through this with you guys," she replied.

"And I'd like to add that after that's over, she can't be hanging out with any of the people who were at that party the other night, I really don't think she'll want to, but I think that should be thrown in there," Lorelai added.

"Of course," Anna said. "I don't want her around any of those kids."

"Then it's settled, two weeks of grounding, no phone, no computer, and unless she goes somewhere with one of us, she will be here or helping out at the diner or the Dragonfly, after the two weeks, she won't be allowed to see any of the people from the party," Luke clarified.

"Sounds like you've got it covered," Anna replied. "Thanks for being so flexible with the custody arrangement."

"No problem, I don't think it would be good for either of you if she were to come home right now," Luke told her. "So we'll have her until either she's ready to come home or her six weeks are up."

"I appreciate it," Anna said. "Tell April if there's anything she needs from here to let me know and I'll send it."

"We will," Lorelai assured her.

They said their goodbyes and ended the call. Lorelai went to get up, but Luke grabbed her arm to hold her in place.

"You wanna talk?" He asked, turning his body toward her on the couch.

"About April?" She wondered. "I thought we just talked it all out."

"No, about the baby," Luke said, taking her hand in his.

"There's not much left on that subject either," Lorelai sighed, tears already starting to prick her eyes, she had cried more tears in the last day than she had in years.

"Lorelai, I didn't mean to…but I overheard you talking to Sookie," he admitted, rubbing his thumb over the top of her hand.

"You were eavesdropping?" She asked, a little upset.

"I didn't mean to…I was coming out to see if you wanted some eggs, and I heard you telling her that you felt guilty you couldn't give me a baby," he said.

"I do," she mumbled, trying to be honest with him since bottling up feelings last time led to a huge fight.

She had her head lowered, staring at a loose thread she was picking at on her sweatpants, her hair partially covering her features. He waited to see if she was going to continue, when she didn't, he was about to make an attempt at easing her fears. Her hand went to her face, covering her eyes as she attempted to suppress a sob. For what felt like the millionth time in the last 24 hours, he watched her body tremble as uncontrollable sobs overcame her body. His arms went around his wife, pulling her into his strong frame as he began to cry as well.

"Lorelai…my love for you exceeds any boundaries I ever thought possible, and yes, I want a baby with you more than I want to breathe, but if we can't have a baby together, it isn't going to make me love you any less," Luke told her, his chin resting on top of her head as her body continued to shake in his arms. "If you knew how happy it makes me to call you my wife, to fall asleep next to you every night, to wake up next to you every morning, to kiss you, hold you, make love to you, everything in between, to see you with the two perfect daughters we already have. My heart feels like it could burst when I think about how much I love you. And I know it sounds cheesy, but one of my goals in life is to make you see just how much I love you, I've been trying for a long time, and I'm nowhere near through."

They were both silent for a few moments before she finally pulled back to face him. Her hands curved around his cheeks, swiping away his tears with her thumbs.

"You're too good to me, Luke," she sniffed. "Thank you for always knowing the right thing to say, I couldn't imagine going through this with anyone else."

"I mean it, Lorelai," he said, pressing his forehead to hers as their eyes met, fixated on the other. "I don't want you doubting yourself anymore, you've already given me more than I could ever hope for, and I know this is tough, but we're going to get through it."

"I hope so," she sighed.

"We will," he said, tilting his head to kiss her.

After being in bed off and on all day, Lorelai was having a hard time falling asleep that night. Luke had tried to stay awake, talking to her, but finally he fell asleep. She tossed and turned in an attempt to get comfortable enough to fall asleep, but to no avail. Finally, she decided to go downstairs to make some hot tea.

When she came downstairs, she could see the light on in the study, she glanced in and saw April on the desktop computer, which they had decided to allow, but with time limits.

"Hey, you're still up," Lorelai said, standing in the doorway.

April jumped, but didn't turn to face her. But from where Lorelai stood, it looked as if she were wiping tears from her face.

"Yeah, I wasn't really tired," April replied.

Lorelai could tell by her voice that she was crying.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Lorelai asked, crossing the room and putting a hand on her shoulder.

April lowered her head, not saying anything. Lorelai looked up to the computer for any sign of what was causing her stepdaughter to be this upset. The words 'miscarriage' and 'stress' were common factors in the Google search results. Lorelai quickly closed out the windows.

"April, come here," Lorelai said, gently easing her to her feet and leading her into the family room, as if to get her away from the computer, she flipped the switch for the recessed lights, and they sat down on the couch. "What's going on?"

April tried to speak, but she was already too distraught. Lorelai put an arm around her shoulder and the other hand on April's head, pulling her into her.

"Sweetie, calm down, take deep breaths," Lorelai said, stroking the girl's hair for a few minutes until April calmed a little.

"It's all my fault," April sobbed. "I stressed you out too much and it caused you to lose the baby."

"Honey no…" Lorelai began to cry, knowing now that she was blaming herself.

"If I would've stayed in New Mexico, you'd still be pregnant," April continued, she was downright hysterical now. "If I hadn't been such a brat, you wouldn't have been so worked up over me running away, and you wouldn't have lost the baby."

"April, the baby had already stopped growing before you even got to Connecticut, there's no way you could've caused that," she replied, clutching her tightly. "My doctor said she thinks it was a hormone imbalance, it's nothing you did, it takes a lot of stress to cause a miscarriage, something catastrophic."

"Really?" April asked as she continued to cry.

"Really," Lorelai confirmed.

"I'm sorry I've been so awful," April said as her tears finally began to subside.

"You're a teenager, you're supposed to be awful," Lorelai reminded her. "Take it from someone who had a baby at sixteen, you're a good kid, you've just made a few bad decisions, but I believe you're going to learn from your decisions."

"I am, I'm never doing anything like this again, I swear," April told her.

"Okay," Lorelai loosened her hold as April settled down. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been here yesterday," Lorelai said, still running her fingers through April's messy curls.

"You would've called Sookie," April replied matter-of-factly as she sat up, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Possibly, but Sookie would've been freaking out, and that would've freaked me out even more, you were so calm and helpful," she explained, wiping her own tears. "You didn't even hesitate, you just did what needed to be done and you'll never know how grateful I am that you were there for me when I needed it most."

"Well, you did the same for me on Friday night," April replied. "And you've been there for me countless times before, dating back to that birthday party from hell."

Lorelai let out a snort as April began to giggle. "Your poor dad had no clue," she said. "I still give him crap for that."

"It was truly awful, my poor friends were traumatized," April admitted. "If you hadn't come in and saved the day, I'm pretty sure they would've never spoke to me again."

They were both quiet for a few moments before Lorelai spoke up again. "So you're okay? You know this isn't your fault?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"No more Google," she told her. "That's something your dad and I learned after the first miscarriage, and then when we started fertility treatments."

"Got it," she nodded again.

"That's another reason I'm glad you're here, I have you to obsess over, it keeps my mind off of everything else," Lorelai said.

"Obsess all you want," April smiled. "When do you think you'll go back to work?"

"I don't know, when I talked to Sookie this afternoon I told her I'd play it by ear," she replied. "I won't be going in tomorrow."

"I can go help out at the inn if I need to," she offered.

"And leave me here by myself? Absolutely not." Lorelai said. "Unless you're getting sick of me…"

"No, not at all, I was just offering to help," April replied. "I figured Dad would be here watching your every move."

"I'm hoping he goes back to work, I would if my body would let me, there's no way we're going to forget what happened, and I don't want to, but it makes it a lot easier to deal with when I have things to do, and I know your dad is the same way," she explained. "He will definitely go open in the morning, so I'll probably go up there when I get up and I can talk to him about working at least part of the day, there's no use in both of us staying home all day."

"Okay, well I'm up for whatever, I can be here, the diner, the Dragonfly…" April offered.

"You're a good kid, April," Lorelai smiled.

The next few days went by slowly, Lorelai didn't feel like working most of the week, she went in for a few hours on Wednesday. On Thursday, she felt better and was able to work a little longer until Jackson came by with an inconsolable Audrey. Sookie had been in the middle of testing a new dish, so Lorelai tried her hand at consoling the baby. She succeeded in getting Audrey calm and asleep, but an emotional tidal wave crashed into her without notice, she sat in her office rocking the baby and crying for a good ten minutes before Sookie could bring herself to interrupt her grieving friend. She went home after that to finish packing to leave for New Hampshire the next morning.

Rory had been on the phone with Lorelai every day, sometimes multiple times per day. She hated that she couldn't be there for her mom, and was a little envious that April was able to. So she decided to take Friday off so she and Jess could drive to Stars Hollow Thursday night. The original plan was for both of them to work part of the day on Friday, then take Richard and Emily's timeshare jet to a small airport near the lake house. But she wanted as much time with their family as possible, and opted to drive.

Lorelai was pulling the last load of laundry from the dryer, much to Luke's dismay. If it were up to him, she'd be on the couch with her feet propped up. But she had convinced him that the clothes needed to be done a certain way, making it sound a lot more complicated than it really was so he would give up. He did.

"April! Come get your clothes before they wrinkle!" Lorelai called from the laundry room as she began sorting out the clothes.

"Coming!" April replied from where she sat on the couch with her dad watching TV, quickly jumping up to do as she was told.

A few minutes later, Luke appeared in the doorway of the laundry room. "If there's not anything else that needs to be done tonight, I'm going to bed."

"Okay," Lorelai replied sadly, going over to kiss him. "You're not going to stay up to see Rory and Jess?"

"How much longer until they get here?" Luke asked, his hands on her shoulders. "It's after 11, and if we're leaving at 6, I'd like to get some sleep since I know I'll be the one driving tomorrow."

"Should be soon," Lorelai said.

"Fine I'll stay up," he caved, resting his hands on his hips.

"Good, Rory will be so happy to see you," Lorelai grinned as she clapped her hands on his shoulders before going back to the task at hand.

"Is there anything I can do while we wait?" He asked.

"Can you take these up to our bathroom?" Lorelai asked, holding out some towels to him.

"Sure," he said, taking them from her and turning to take them upstairs.

As he was coming back down the stairs, he saw lights turn into the driveway. Knowing they would come in the side door, he went toward the back of the house where that entrance was. He turned on the porch light, opened the door and stepped out onto the porch at the side of the house. When Rory saw him, she quickly threw the car into park and scrambled out of the car. She flung herself into her arms.

"I shouldn't have listened to Mom, I should've come sooner," she told him as she threw her arms around him.

"It's okay," Luke replied, hugging her tightly. "It's good to have you home, kid."

Lorelai and April heard the commotion and joined them on the porch. When Rory saw her mom, she released Luke and went straight to Lorelai, tears flowing freely down her face. Luke went down the porch steps and hugged Jess before helping him take their things out of the car.

"My girl," Lorelai soothed, holding her close.

"I'm so sorry Mom," Rory cried.

"Sshh, it's okay," Lorelai told her, leaning back to cup Rory's face in her hands. "We're going to be okay."

Rory nodded, then noticed April. She hugged her too.

"Thanks for being there for Mom," she said to the teen.

"It's no big deal, I did what anyone else in my position would've done," April shrugged.

"According to Mom, you were a rock star," Rory replied, putting her arm around April's shoulders as they walked into the house.

"You got everything?" Lorelai asked Luke and Jess as they closed the trunk to Rory's car.

"Yeah, we got it," Luke answered as they walked up the steps and headed into the house.

Lorelai held the door open for them and shut it behind them as they headed upstairs to the guest apartment, she followed the girls' voices to the living room.

"Mom, are you feeling okay?" Rory asked.

"I feel okay, better than I have the last few days, I stayed at work longer today," she replied, sitting down between the two girls on the couch. "I did have a bit of a meltdown before I left though."

"Over what?" She asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Jackson brought Audrey into the Dragonfly, he couldn't get her to stop crying, and he was all freaked out, I took her because Sookie has been trying to perfect this new dish she's been struggling with…" Lorelai explained. "I took her into my office, and started rocking her in that rocking chair Luke made to go in there, I got her calmed down, and she finally went to sleep. The next thing I knew, my emotions just overwhelmed me, and I started crying."

"Mom," Rory frowned. "What did you do?"

"I snuggled Audrey close and just cried, that's really all I could do," she shrugged. "I'm not sure how long I was in there crying like a crazy person before Sookie came in and offered to take Audrey."

"I'm sorry Mom," Rory hugged her again.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Lorelai pointed out.

"I'm the one who convinced you that everything would be okay, and obviously I lied to you," Rory said.

"Hon, as tough as it is now, everything is going to be okay eventually, we're taking it one step at a time, facing our feelings head on, talking things out…we're going to make it through this," she replied.

"Good, I don't want to see you fight like you did two years ago," Rory said.

"Me either," Lorelai agreed as Luke and Jess came walking in. "There they are!"

"Now, I'm going to bed," Luke announced as he came over to kiss his wife goodnight.

"Already?" Rory asked as Jess took a seat next to her.

"He was going to go to bed before you got here," Lorelai mock whispered.

Rory's mouth gaped open, feigning hurt. "I can't believe you were going to skip out on seeing me!"

"I'm tired!" Luke defended, pretending to be annoyed, but Rory knew better. "We're leaving in a little over six hours, and unless you want to drive, I'm going to need some sleep."

"Aww, there's the Mr. Grumpy we know and love!" Rory teased.

"We had a few good years without him, but he's starting to show his true colors in his old age," Lorelai added.

"Yeah well, you better watch it, you're not far behind in the old age department," Luke pointed out.

"I can't believe you just called me old," Lorelai frowned.

"It's okay Lorelai, Dad will reach 50 first," April added.

"Ha!" Lorelai pointed a finger at Luke. "She's right."

Luke rolled his eyes. "I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight old man," Lorelai continued.

"Hey wait, are we taking two cars in the morning?" Rory asked.

"No, we can take one unless you two just want to drive on your own," Luke said.

"Can we all fit in your vehicle?" Jess wondered. "With all of our crap? I don't know about April, but the other two women in this room are notorious for over-packing."

"You two are just digging yourselves deeper and deeper," Lorelai shook her head.

"We can all fit, we're taking the trailer with us, we've got some stuff to take up there that will make it a little more like home," Luke explained. "So there will be room in there for our bags."

"Then we will ride with you," Rory told him.

"Okay, see you in the morning," Luke said, kissing Lorelai again.

"Goodnight, I love you," Lorelai replied.

"I love you too," he replied before heading for the stairs. "First person to fall asleep in the car tomorrow gets a permanent marker to the face."

"That's not fair, Jess and I had to work all day today, we can't help it we got in late!" Rory exclaimed, Luke continued to walk away.

* * *

 **A bit of a filler chapter, but I hope you liked it just the same. I promise things start looking up after this! Let me know what you think.**


	10. Chapter Nine

**So here we go, a happier chapter than the last few. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Also, I noticed (and have heard from a few others) that the alerts aren't working so some of you may have missed the previous chapter that I posted last week, in case you wanted to go back and check that out. I received an alert for another story earlier this afternoon, so I'm hoping that means the problem is resolved.**

 **Chapter 9**

The next morning, Luke and Jess were trying to finish loading their stuff into the trailer. Rory stepped out on the side porch.

"Do I need to move my car?" She asked

"You can put it in the garage if you want," Luke said. "Before you do that, will you go check on your mom? She's the one who wanted to leave at six, and I haven't seen her since I came downstairs."

"She's in the kitchen filling travel mugs with coffee," Rory told him.

"Okay," Luke nodded. "Carry on."

"I'll move the car," Jess offered as Luke was putting the last bag into the trailer.

"Thanks," Rory replied as she tossed Jess the keys.

Luke went into the house as Rory followed.

"We're stopping at the diner to get breakfast and coffee, I already called to make sure Cesar would have it ready," Luke told Lorelai as he walked into the kitchen.

"One can never have too much coffee, dear husband, you should've learned that by now," Lorelai told him. "Besides, this is Luke coffee, the coffee from the diner will be Cesar coffee, and won't be as good."

"Why do I even bother with you?" Luke shook his head, Lorelai and Rory just giggled. "Where's April?"

"She went into the study to get a couple of books to take with her," Lorelai answered.

"We need to get going," he said before going back outside.

"April, let's go!" Lorelai called.

"Coming," April replied.

"Why were you the one who wanted to leave so early?" Rory asked her mom as she grabbed her purse from the kitchen island.

"Because they're having a festival that starts this morning, and I want to go," Lorelai explained, picking up all the cups of coffee.

"Why not just go tomorrow?" She asked as they started out the door.

"It's going to be too crowded tomorrow," she told her.

"Are you planning on sharing any of that coffee?" Rory wondered, taking two of the cups before Lorelai spilled them all.

"No way, I went to the trouble of filling all these cups, you guys can have Cesar coffee," Lorelai replied.

"Fine, you can carry your own coffee," Rory held the travel cups out to her mom.

"I guess you can have those two," she groaned.

"Thank you," Rory kissed her mom on the cheek. "You're the best Mommy in the world."

Lorelai was putting her cups in the cup holders of the SUV when she saw TJ and Doula walking up the driveway.

"TJ? What are you and Doula doing here?" Lorelai asked, stepping out of the vehicle.

"Aunt Lola!" The pajama clad girl squealed as she ran to her aunt.

"Hi Pumpkin," Lorelai grinned as she knelt down to hug her.

"Well, Luke asked if I would come over to get Paul Anka before you left, so he wouldn't have to see you leaving," TJ explained. "And Doula decided to wake up just before I left to walk over here, so she came with me."

"Well, we appreciate you and Liz offering to keep Paul Anka," Lorelai replied graciously, standing up.

"Hey TJ, thanks for coming to get him," Luke said as he and Jess came from the garage, he had Paul Anka on a leash, carrying a bag of dog items.

"No problem," TJ nodded, taking the leash and bag from his brother-in-law.

"I'm going to go lock up," Luke said, going toward the house.

"Jess!" Doula exclaimed, releasing her hold on Lorelai's leg to run to her brother.

"Hey baby sister," Jess said, picking her up and tossing her into the air as she giggled.

"You're going to take care of Paul Anka for Aunt Lola this weekend?" He asked her.

"Yep," Doula nodded.

"Take good care of him, okay?" Lorelai said.

"I will!" Doula replied, reaching out for Lorelai to take her

"Aunt Lola can't hold you right now, she doesn't feel well," Jess told the girl, holding her back from all but lunging into Lorelai's arms.

"Yeah, I'm sorry sweetie," Lorelai added.

"It's okay," Doula grinned.

"Paul Anka, you be good for Doula," Lorelai said, leaning over to pet her beloved dog.

"Doula, tell everyone goodbye," TJ instructed as Jess put the girl down.

"Bye," Doula waved before taking off down the driveway.

"Bye, thanks again for taking care of him," Lorelai told him before he turned to follow his daughter.

"Welcome," he said.

"Let's get going," Luke said as he and April came out of the house.

That evening, after Lorelai, Rory and April spent most of the day in town at the festival, and Luke and Jess had unloaded the trailer, as well as unpacked the items they had brought for the house, the five of them sat outside around the fire pit.

Lorelai had got up to hand the box graham crackers to Jess, pulling her blanket around her tighter as she went back to her chair. Luke reached out from his chair and caught her by the hand, pulling her to him. She sat down in his lap, leaning in for a chaste kiss as he put his arms around her.

"I love you," she smiled.

"I love you too," he smiled back. "How are you feeling?"

They watched as Rory, Jess and April toasted marshmallows for s'mores, the girls teasing Jess about his method of toasting a marshmallow.

"I'm okay, I may have overdid it today with all the walking around, I'm tired," she admitted.

"Good thing we get to relax for the next three days," Luke pointed out.

"I plan on taking full advantage of that," Lorelai grinned. "What about you? How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, having the kids around makes things a lot easier to deal with," he admitted.

"I agree…I'm just glad only Buddy, Maisy and Sookie knew," Lorelai rested her head against his as they continued to watch Jess and the girls. "Although I'm pretty sure Michel thought I lost my mind when I was sitting in my office with Audrey yesterday."

"Who cares what Michel thinks," he muttered.

"For you," Rory said as she came around the fire pit to give Lorelai a s'more.

"Thank you sweets," Lorelai sat up as she took the treat from her daughter.

"What about me?" Luke asked.

"You're seriously going to eat a s'more?" Rory's jaw dropped as she looked at him.

Luke shrugged. "I'm just sayin' that if one of my kids were to hand me one, I probably wouldn't turn it down."

"I gotta see this," Lorelai grinned.

Rory grabbed a graham cracker and chocolate as April offered up the marshmallow she was toasting. She quickly brought it back to Luke as if he would rescind the offer if they took too long. Then she went back to her seat.

Luke looked at the s'more as if he were trying to figure out the best way to attack it. When he looked up, he realized he had a captive audience.

"Okay, that's enough," he told them.

"Luke, how long has it been since you've had a s'more?" Lorelai laughed as she ate her s'more.

"I don't know, I was probably 10 or 12," he replied, still eyeing the s'more.

"Luke! That's forever ago!" Lorelai shrieked.

"I'm trying to remedy that, if you don't mind," he shot her a sideways glance before taking a bite of the s'more.

They all waited with baited breath to see his reaction. He chewed and finally swallowed.

"Not bad," he nodded.

"That's it?" April frowned.

"Yep," he replied.

"That was very anticlimactic," Jess said.

"Was there supposed to be some type of flavor explosion of epic proportions to make me regret going more than 30 years without a s'more?" Luke questioned.

"Yes!" The three women in his life exclaimed at once.

"Sorry," he shrugged.

Rory returned to her seat and they continued toasting marshmallows as Luke took a second bite of the s'more, getting the sticky marshmallow on the side of his mouth.

"You've got marshmallow…" Lorelai pointed out before leaning in to kiss him, swiping her tongue across the sticky substance.

Luke dropped the remainder of the s'more to the ground, his arms snaking around his wife's waist as he deepened the kiss. Momentarily forgetting the world around them.

April noticed them first, reaching across Jess to tap Rory on the arm, pointing out their parents.

"Ah geez," Jess said uncomfortably, getting up and walking down toward the lake.

Rory moved over into his seat. "At least they aren't at each other's throats this time."

"Thank god," April added. "When I was sitting at the hospital with Lorelai, and we were waiting on Dad, that's all I could think about…that he was going to show up and they would start fighting, and it would be the beginning of the end for them."

"Well, their relationship has grown a lot since the last miscarriage," Rory reminded her. "They had barely got their footing when they found out they were pregnant, it's been three years since they got back together, they've worked through their problems, and they're a lot stronger now."

When Luke and Lorelai came up for air, she noticed Jess was gone and the girls were talking quietly.

"Where's Jess?" Luke asked.

"He went down by the lake," April pointed out.

"He was disturbed by your public display of affection," Rory added as both girls began to laugh.

"Jess!" Lorelai exclaimed across the yard. "It's safe to come back now!"

"I'm good here," he replied.

"What are we going to do tomorrow?" April asked as she sat back in her chair.

"Taking the boat out," Lorelai spoke up.

"We have a boat?!" April and Rory exclaimed.

"Yes, we have a boat," Luke replied, then looked at Lorelai. "I thought you were going to relax tomorrow."

"I can relax on the boat," she shrugged. "No better place to relax than laying out on a boat."

"When did we get a boat?" Rory asked as Jess finally rejoined them, taking the seat Rory had vacated.

"Luke bought it a couple weeks ago," Lorelai answered.

"Mid-life crisis?" Jess teased

"No, just something to have fun with while we're here," Luke explained.

"Is it a speed boat?" Rory questioned excitedly.

"I wouldn't call it a speed boat, but it goes pretty fast," Luke shrugged.

"Can we water ski?" April asked hopefully.

"Ooh, I've always wanted to learn to water ski!" Rory added.

"We don't have any water skis," Luke told them.

"Bummer," Rory frowned.

Lorelai looked to Luke and could see that he was up to something, she just wasn't sure what it was. When he caught her looking at him, she smiled sweetly.

"I think it's my bedtime," she yawned.

"Mine too," Luke replied, also yawning as Lorelai stood up.

"Are you guys staying out here for a little while?" Lorelai asked the girls and Jess.

"I am," Rory answered.

"Me too," Jess added.

"I think I will too, if that's okay with you," April looked to Rory and Jess.

"Of course," Rory smiled at her stepsister.

"Jess, will you make sure the fire is put out before you come inside?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I will," Jess replied.

They said their goodnights, Luke and Lorelai went into the house to get ready for bed, while the girls and Jess stayed up talking and laughing until late.

The next morning, Luke was up before everyone else, and made a trip to town to buy water skis for the girls. He was down at the boathouse getting everything ready to go when Lorelai appeared with a cup of coffee in hand.

"What's all this?" She asked, waving her finger toward the water skiing equipment as she stepped onto the boat.

"Water skis," he shrugged.

"Babe," she giggled, going over to him and snaking her free arm around his waist. "You spoil those girls."

"Whatever my girls want, they get," he reminded her. "You included."

"They're going to be so excited," she smiled before tilting her head to lean in to kiss him. "You're too good to us, Luke."

"You're worth it," he replied before pressing his lips to hers. "Are they up yet?"

"Yeah, they were eating the donuts you brought when I came down here," Lorelai took a sip of her coffee.

"I hope they don't mind that I didn't cook," he said as he went back to getting things ready for the boat.

"Are you kidding me?" She questioned as she stepped into the boat with him. "They know this was supposed to be a lazy weekend, you always get up early to make sure we're fed, you deserve a break every once in awhile too."

"Thanks," he said. "You feel okay?"

"Yeah, I feel pretty good today," she nodded, taking a seat on one of the benches.

He looked up from what he was doing, and could see that she had something on her mind.

"What's up?" He asked, going over and taking a seat next to her.

"I just…I don't know," she sighed. "This morning I was thinking about the future, and about us trying for another baby. Obviously I want another or two, but it's kinda looking like that might not happen, and I don't want to keep trying just to miscarry."

"Lorelai," Luke's voice cracked, he put an arm around her and pressed a kiss to her hair. "It hurts me every time I see the look of disappointment on your face when you have another negative pregnancy test, and after the first miscarriage, I thought our marriage was going to fall apart before it even started, I couldn't bear the thought of being apart from you. We're in a better place now, but dealing with my grief and seeing you deal with yours, it damn near kills me."

"So what are you saying?" She stared into his eyes, searching for the answers.

"Right now, I'm saying it hurts too much to want to try again, but I think I might change my mind if you're willing to try again," he replied.

"I don't know if I have it in me to try again," she admitted, squeezing her eyes shut in an attempt to keep the tears at bay, she wasn't successful. "But I'd like to talk more with the fertility specialists before we make any concrete decisions."

"I agree," he hugged her close, pulling the hem of his shirt up to wipe her tears.

Lorelai heard Rory's voice and April's giggles, she quickly dried the remainder of her tears, then the tears Luke had shed. He still had his arm around her shoulders.

When the girls and Jess finally came into view, Rory was the first to notice her parents' demeanor.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

"We can go back to the house if you need some time alone," April added.

"No, no, it's fine," Luke assured them as they stood up, he kept his arm around Lorelai's shoulder. "We were just talking, we're okay."

"Look what your dad went and bought this morning," Lorelai pointed out the water ski equipment, stepping away from Luke and over to the water ski equipment.

"Water skis!" April squealed, going to hug her dad.

"Thank you Luke!" Rory added excitedly, also hugging Luke.

"You're welcome," he said as he hugged his daughters.

"I brought the drinks and snacks," Jess told Lorelai as he held up the ice chest.

"I'll take it," she said, going to get it from him where he was standing on the dock.

"No, you're not lifting it, I got it," Jess argued, stepping into the boat with the ice chest.

"Thanks Jess," Lorelai said gratefully.

"Are we ready to go?" Luke asked, clapping his hands together.

"I think so," Lorelai replied.

The next two days were spent on the lake and around the house. The girls and Jess were getting pretty good at water skiing, Luke was able to get in some fishing time, Rory and April took Lorelai to get pedicures. With the exception of checking in with their jobs once, no one worked or answered phone calls all weekend long. They had some much needed family time away from the rest of the world.

Sunday afternoon, Lorelai was walking toward the kitchen to get a bottle of water when she saw Jess, Rory and April all in the living room with their noses in books. She laughed silently as she watched them for a moment.

"What are you looking at?" Luke asked quietly as he came up behind her, snaking his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"The kids," Lorelai pointed out. "You know most people their age would be watching TV or have cell phones attached to their hands. I think we got pretty lucky that all three of them are perfectly content with sitting down and reading a book."

"I agree," Luke nodded, pulling her into the kitchen so they could talk at a normal volume. "You know, I used to think we needed a baby of our own to complete our family, but you and those three in there, you're my perfect family. If we get lucky enough to have more kids, so be it, but I'm perfectly happy the way things are right now."

"Me too," she nodded, leaning into him as he leaned against the counter with his arms back around her waist. "I just wish we could stay here forever, just the five of us."

"I think we need to take some time off this summer, spend time with April, go to New York to visit Rory and Jess…just do what makes us happy," Luke told her. "Cesar can take care of the diner, Sookie and Michel are more than capable of handling the Dragonfly, it's a lot easier for us to take off than it is for Jess and Rory."

"You're right…we should do it, we'll talk to Jess and Rory to see when is best for them, and we'll get everything set up," Lorelai agreed.

"Should we ask them now?" He wondered.

"Sure," she nodded and turned to go back to the family room. "Oh children."

"Yes Mother?" Rory asked, mocking Lorelai's formality.

"Luke and I were just talking…" Lorelai said as they sat down on the couch next to Rory. "How would you feel about us and April coming to visit for like a week or so?"

"Mom! That would be great!" Rory exclaimed excitedly. "When?"

"We thought we would see what your schedule is like before we make any plans," Luke answered. "April will be here until right after the 4th of July."

"Isn't your anniversary coming up in a couple weeks?" Jess asked. "Maybe you should come then."

"They probably want to be alone on their anniversary," April chimed in.

"If they need alone time on their anniversary, they can get a hotel, you can stay with us," Rory replied.

"Well, we'll probably stay in a hotel so we don't disrupt your schedule while we're there, but we'll stay close," Luke said. "But of course we want to be with all of you on our anniversary."

"It's just a suggestion," Jess pointed out as he gave Lorelai a knowing glance.

"Yeah, so that's in a couple weeks, April will be ungrounded, I should be feeling better, so I think we should plan for that," Lorelai said, seeing that Jess was up to something.

"Okay," Luke nodded, then turned to his daughter. "Is that okay with you, April?"

"Yeah, that sounds great," April grinned.

"We can show you some of our favorite bookstores while you're there," Rory added.

"Perfect!"

Later, Lorelai was sitting on the back porch swing overlooking the lake while Luke and Jess were in the boathouse making sure everything was put away since they would be leaving the next morning. Rory and April had gone for a walk. She had been looking at a magazine and enjoying the sunshine when she noticed Jess making his way to the house, sans Luke.

"Hey," she said as he started up the steps.

"Hey."

"So what was that look this afternoon?" She wondered, patting the seat next to her for him to sit down, which he did.

"Well since the day before your wedding was the day Rory decided to give me a second chance, I decided that would be the day I would propose to her," Jess replied. "And I know it would mean a lot to Rory if you could be there to witness it."

"Oh Jess, that's a great idea," Lorelai smiled. "Where are you going to pop the question?"

"In the Shakespeare Garden in Central Park," he answered.

"She's going to be thrilled," Lorelai beamed. "I can't believe you two are finally getting engaged."

"That's _ **if**_ she says yes," he reminded her.

"Are you kidding me?" She questioned as her eyes widened. "There's no way she's going to say no!"

"She could," Jess pointed out.

"She's not going to," Lorelai assured him. "You guys have known each other for nearly ten years, you have a history."

"Yeah…a not so great history," he grumbled.

"But that's what makes it so great," she put her arm around his shoulders. "You did some bad things, things I hated you for at the time, but Jess, I know you've changed, and Rory knows you've changed, you two found your way back to each other and she forgave you. And you know that when she forgives you, it's complete forgiveness, she doesn't hold it over your head for the rest of your life."

"I know, but—"

"But nothing, she's going to say yes," she shook him a little with the arm that was around his shoulders. "And while we're getting it all out on the table, I have to say I'd much rather have you for a son-in-law than Logan."

They both started laughing as Luke came up the steps onto the deck.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Jess and I were just having a little conversation about some things he has planned while we're in New York," Lorelai grinned.

"Scoot over," he said, Lorelai scooted closer to Jess so Luke could sit with them. "What do you have planned for us?"

"It's not for us, it's for Rory," Lorelai corrected with a wide smile still on her face.

"I'd like to propose on the 27th, that's the day we got back together two years ago," Jess added.

"Jess, that's great, she's going to be so happy," Luke replied with a smile.

"I told you," Lorelai told Jess, then looked back to Luke. "He's worried she'll say no."

"She's not going to say no," Luke said.

"I tried to tell him," Lorelai threw her hands up in the air.

"Mom!" Rory called from somewhere inside the house.

"We're out here!" Lorelai replied.

"What's all this about?" April asked suspiciously as she and Rory stepped out onto the back porch, seeing Luke, Lorelai and Jess on the swing.

"Any room for us?" Rory asked as she and April joined them on the swing, she sat on Jess and Lorelai's laps as April sat on Luke and Lorelai, both girls giggling, causing the rest of them to laugh as well.

"I hope this thing doesn't fall," Jess commented, looking up at where the swing was connected to the overhang.

"Luke put it in, it should be sturdy enough," Lorelai replied as Rory pushed her foot against the deck as hard as she could causing the swing to go back and forth.

"Were you guys conspiring against us?" Rory asked them in a suspicious tone.

"Yes," Luke and Jess replied in unison.

"No, Jess and I were out here talking, and Luke joined us right before you did," Lorelai explained as they continued to swing back and forth.

The five of them continued talking and laughing on the swing for awhile longer. April and Jess were teasing Rory about something she said. Luke looked over to Lorelai, who was smiling, but had tears in her eyes.

"You okay?" He reached over and touched her shoulder.

"I'm perfect, this is all I'll ever need," she smiled at him, leaning over to kiss him. "I love you."

"I love you too," Luke replied before kissing her again.

"Get a room," Jess quipped as he was the first to notice them.

"Shut up Jess," Luke said, reaching behind Lorelai and flicking Jess on the ear.

"Ow, that hurt!" Jess flinched, grabbing his ear.

"You're lucky I didn't push you in the lake," Luke muttered.

"Why are you so uncomfortable with them showing affection towards each other?" Rory asked, lightly elbowing him in the ribs.

"Because they're your parents and it's awkward," Jess answered.

"So when you're a parent, you're just going to stop kissing Rory?" April prodded.

"No, but—"

"But nothing…I think it's sweet that they aren't afraid to show affection in front of us," April said.

"Yeah, I can remember when Luke was all awkward about PDA in the beginning," Rory teased.

"But he came around," Lorelai looked at Luke lovingly.

Later that night after Luke, Jess and April had gone to bed, Lorelai and Rory sat on the couch talking.

"I really wish I didn't have to leave you tomorrow," Rory said as she snuggled into her mom's side.

"I wish you didn't have to leave either," Lorelai wrapped her arms around her daughter. "And if there were something in Stars Hollow for you, I'd tie you up and make you stay with us forever, but you and Jess are already doing great things in New York, and we all know that's where you are meant to be."

"I know," she sighed. "Are you going back to work on Tuesday?"

"Yes, I'm feeling 100% better physically, this weekend has given me a chance to relax and recover, and having you, Jess and April around has helped me put things into perspective," Lorelai answered.

"How so?" Rory asked.

"Well, even though Luke and I would still like to have kids together, I've realized that the family I do have is perfect just the way it is, and if we don't have any more children, I am at peace with that," she explained.

"So you're going to stop the treatments?"

"We discussed it and we're going to discuss it with my doctors before we make a decision," she explained. "I'm just saying that we're happy with having the three of you in our lives, and look forward to you guys eventually—a very long time from now—giving us grandchildren."

Rory sat up and looked at her mother skeptically. "Mom…I know how badly you and Luke have wanted a baby, and I really hope you're not trying to convince yourself that everything is okay just because we're around, because I know it's easy for you to put all your focus on us, and enjoying being with us, but Jess and I are leaving tomorrow, and in a few weeks, April will be back in New Mexico with Anna. And life will go back to normal, I'm just worried that's when it will all hit you."

"I appreciate your honesty, kid," Lorelai said. "And while it's easy to push the emotional pain of the miscarriage out of my mind while you guys are here, it's all still there, I won't lie to you, it hurts more than anything I've ever experienced, and I'm facing it head on, I'm not trying to deny it, but being with you guys does make it better. You've helped me more than you will ever know just by being here with me."

"I love you Mom," Rory put her head back on Lorelai's shoulder as she put her arms around her waist.

"I love you too," Lorelai smiled. "I don't want you worrying about me so much."

"I won't…because if you start going off the rails, Luke will call me," Rory said.

"I'm not going to go off the rails," she scoffed.

"I know, I was telling April the other night that you and Luke are in a much better place now than you were during the last miscarriage," Rory said.

"Oh yeah, even after a couple sessions with a marriage counselor, we were doing a lot better," Lorelai replied. "I think that experience has helped us deal with this miscarriage, we knew where we went wrong last time."

"That's good," Rory nodded.

"There was a moment in the hospital where he completely broke down after I got out of surgery…I knew we were on the same page, and that's when I knew we were going to be okay," Lorelai confessed.

"I really can't imagine Luke breaking down, he's always been so tough," Rory said. "I think the only time I ever saw him cry was at your wedding."

"He cried at your high school graduation," Lorelai added.

"I thought you were kidding about that!"

"Nope, he cried," she replied. "You have no idea how proud he is of you…the pride in his voice when he can tell someone 'our daughter Rory works at the New York Times,' or any time he can refer to you as ' _ **our**_ daughter.'"

Rory snorted at Lorelai's bad imitation of Luke's voice. "He does not."

"He does, he brags about you and April every chance he gets," Lorelai told her.

"You know, sometimes I think back to all the important events in my life, and how Luke was always there for me—for us," she said. "And I wonder how things would be if he was my dad, and not Chris."

"Chris? When did you start calling him Chris?" Lorelai wondered.

She sat up at her mom's question. "You've heard me call him that before."

"No, I think I would remember my daughter referring to her father by his given name when you've called him 'Dad' all these years," she replied

"I haven't talked to him in over a year, he's never really been around except for the few years in high school, and some in college, and when he was trying to derail your life," she explained. "All the big moments in my life, it was Luke who was there, not Chris. And then he moved to Paris with Sherry and Gigi, and they have another baby, Grandma said it's a boy, but I know nothing about him, I don't even know his name. Chris stopped making an effort to contact me, so I stopped too."

"Aww hon," Lorelai frowned, hugging her daughter.

"The weird thing is, I'm not really upset about it, I feel like he didn't value me enough to keep in touch or ever be a part of my life, and I don't need people like that in my life," Rory told her as they both sat back. "I've got Jess, who treats me like I'm a queen, April is the little sister I never had, someone who I can actually have an intelligent conversation with, not a bratty five-year-old, I have the best mom in the world, and I have Luke, who—for all intents and purposes—is my dad, and a damn good one for someone who didn't have kids for most of his life."

"He loves you more than you'll ever know, kid," Lorelai smiled.

"I love him too," she replied.

The pair sat up talking most of the night, it wasn't often they got uninterrupted one-on-one time with each other. Not that they didn't love the rest of the family, but sometimes they just needed it to be the two of them.

The next afternoon, following lunch at the diner, they stood in the driveway saying their goodbyes.

"I don't want you to leave," Lorelai hugged her daughter tightly.

"I know, but you'll be in Manhattan before you know it," Rory reminded her, stepping back, but keeping her hands on Lorelai's shoulders.

"That reminds me, I mentioned it to Cesar, and he said that he is more than happy to take over while we're gone," Luke added.

"And I'll make sure those dates work for Sookie and Michel when I go in tomorrow morning," Lorelai replied.

"I can't wait for you guys to visit," Rory said excitedly.

"We better get going, traffic is going to be a nightmare," Jess told Rory.

"Yeah, we should," Rory added.

"Bye Jess," Luke said as he pulled his nephew in for a manly hug.

"Bye Luke," Jess replied, then turned to hug Lorelai. "Bye Lorelai."

"Bye Jess," Lorelai said, then whispered in his ear. "If you need help with the plans, let me know."

"I will," he replied

"See ya, kid," Luke said as he hugged Rory.

"Bye, thanks for everything this weekend, we had fun," she replied.

"Me too," he smiled.

"April, I'll see you in a few weeks," Rory hugged her stepsister.

"I can't wait," April replied with a grin.

"Think of all the places you want to see, we'll try to see as many of them as we can," Jess told her as he gave her a side hug.

"Okay," she replied, returning the half hug.

"Bye Mom," Rory hugged her again.

"Bye sweets, I love you, I'll see you in a couple weeks," Lorelai said as she kissed her cheek.

"Love you too," she replied.

Luke, Lorelai and April waved as Rory and Jess got in their car and drove away.

"What do my girls want to do tonight?" Luke asked as he put his arms around Lorelai and April as they walked back toward the house.

"Can we order Chinese food?" Lorelai grinned as they were making their way up the steps.

"Oh, and we can watch _Pretty in Pink_ because we haven't got to watch it yet this year," April added.

After watching the movie at April's 13th birthday party, April fell in love with it. Once her dad and Lorelai re-connected in 2007, and April got to start spending time with Lorelai, watching _Pretty in Pink_ was one of her first requests. The next two years when she came to visit around her birthday, she asked to watch it again. It had become a tradition of hers and Lorelai's.

"You know, I think I have some stuff I need to take care of at the diner," Luke replied, trying to turn around as April opened the screen door to the house.

"Oh no you don't," Lorelai grabbed his arm.

"Come on Dad, at least have dinner with us, you can go do your own thing after that," April pleaded, holding the door open for them.

"Fine, fine, get the phone, the quicker we order, the less of that movie I have to watch," he grumbled, walking into the house.


	11. Chapter Ten

**Hey y'all! I just wanted to say thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! I hope you continue to enjoy it. Please know that I don't know a lot about infertility, other than what I have heard from friends dealing with it, and by just googling stuff that may pertain to the story. I know it's a sensitive subject and I really hope I don't upset anyone over this.**

 **Chapter 10**

A week later, on the way to Lorelai's follow-up with their fertility specialist, Rory called.

"Hey hon," Lorelai answered.

"Hi Mom, are you busy?" Rory asked.

"No, Luke and I are on our way to my follow-up appointment," she replied.

"Oh, can you put me on speaker? I want Luke to hear this too," Rory said

"Sure," Lorelai said as she started wiggling excitedly around in her seat and lightly hitting Luke on the arm as she put the phone on speaker, hoping Jess decided to go ahead and pop the question. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine, I just wanted to run something by you," she explained.

"Hi Rory," Luke said.

"Hey Luke," Rory replied.

"Okay, what is it?" Lorelai questioned anxiously.

"Well, I've been thinking a lot the last week, and I know you said you were going to stop the fertility treatments, but what if I could be your surrogate?" She asked.

"Sweetheart, I appreciate the offer, but I wouldn't put you through that," Lorelai said.

"Right, we could never ask you to do that for us," Luke added.

"Good thing I'm offering then," Rory said with a grin. "Come on, I'm young and healthy, it would be perfect. Will you at least discuss it before you say no?"

"We will talk about it, but we've discussed a surrogate before and it's a lot of work," Lorelai told her. "Have you mentioned this to Jess?"

"No, I figured I would talk to the two of you first," she replied. "So you'll think about it?"

"We will think about it," Luke assured her.

"Good, in the meantime, I'm going to have a checkup to make sure I'm as healthy as I think I am," Rory said. "Since you know, Luke fed me burgers and chili cheese fries for most of my life."

"How is that my fault?" Luke's mouth gaped open as Lorelai and Rory laughed. "I was just taking care of my customers, had it been up to me, she would've been eating no fried food and a lot less red meat."

"No she wouldn't, she would've given you the Rory face and you would give in every time," Lorelai reminded him.

"She's right Luke, you've never been able to resist my sweet face," Rory added as she and Lorelai continued to laugh.

A little while later, Luke and Lorelai were sitting in the doctor's. She was on the exam table, he was on the stool next to her as she mindlessly played with his hand. They had a long discussion the night before and decided not to continue fertility treatments, which they planned on discussing with her doctor.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "Why, are you having second thoughts?"

"No, but you're fidgeting and you only do that when you're nervous," he said pointedly.

"I know, it's just that this is a big decision, I can't help but be nervous about it," Lorelai told him.

The doctor knocked lightly before entering the exam room.

"Luke," she said as she shook his hand before turning to Lorelai. "Lorelai...how are you feeling?"

"Physically, I feel great," she admitted.

"That's good," she nodded as she took a seat. "Are you seeing your therapist?"

"We haven't, we've actually been coping with this a lot better this time around, we were able to spend the holiday weekend with our kids, and we're talking through our feelings and issues, so things have been going pretty smoothly," Lorelai explained.

"Well, I know that the two of you are honest with yourselves and know when you need to go to the therapist, so I trust your judgement," she replied.

After doing the exam, and making a few notes on Lorelai's chart, she turned back to the pair.

"It looks like you're healing fine, no bleeding, no pain, so you're all clear to go back to your normal activities. Though I would wait until after your next menstrual cycle before you start trying to conceive," Dr. Meadows told them.

"Actually, we have discussed it and would like to stop the fertility treatments," Lorelai said.

"Really?" Dr. Meadows asked. "I wanted to talk to you about that…the CDC has just approved a new fertility treatment plan, while it is a bit more expensive, a little more time consuming, the success rate is much higher."

"How much higher?" Luke asked.

"About 22% higher," she smiled. "And now that we know that some of Lorelai's hormone levels were unstable, we know what to monitor more closely if and when you get pregnant again, which make the odds go up even more."

Lorelai looked to Luke. "That's a big increase," she said as she bit her lower lip.

"Can we take a day or so to discuss it?" Luke asked Dr. Meadows.

"Of course, but the sooner we can get started, the better," she replied. "Here's what I want to do, since I know you two have a habit of putting off big discussions like this…I'm going to have one of the receptionists schedule you for this Friday, if you decide you absolutely don't want to do it, cancel the appointment, if you want to go through with it or you're still on the fence, come in on Friday and we'll talk more then."

"I think we can do that," Lorelai smiled.

"Great," Dr. Meadows smiled back. "I will go get the information for you while you get dressed, then you're free to go."

They walked into the house a short time later, Lorelai hung her purse on the rack in the mud room as Luke kicked off his shoes.

"You're not going back to the diner?" She asked as she pulled her phone from her purse.

"No, since April's working at the Dragonfly this afternoon, I figured it would give us a chance to discuss this without anyone else," Luke said as he followed her into the office.

"Okay, I want to Google some of this stuff first."

She picked up her laptop and they went back into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. After spending an adequate amount of time on Google, she closed the laptop and placed it on the coffee table before looking at Luke.

"The more I think about it, the more I think we should take Rory up on her offer," Lorelai chewed on her bottom lip anxiously.

"I don't think we should risk Rory's health just so we can have a baby, it makes me feel like we're being selfish," Luke told her.

"Luke, you know she wouldn't have offered if she wasn't 100% committed," Lorelai argued.

"I know, but you know how risky it is, I can't gamble with our daughter's life like that," he said. "If we lost Rory due to complications of a pregnancy that was for us, I'd never forgive myself."

"You know that Rory's already done all the research, she's made her pro and con lists, and we know what surrogacy entails," Lorelai replied.

"Exactly, we know, so why are you wanting to allow her to go through with that?" He wondered.

"Because I know that she's just wanting to do something for us, and that's the only way she knows how," she shrugged, knowing her daughter's logic.

"Lorelai, we have gone from stopping treatments to talking about having our daughter be our surrogate," he said. "This isn't crazy to you?"

"No Luke, we trust Rory more than anyone else in the world, she would be perfect, she would eat right and take care of herself without us harassing her about it, she would already love it because it's her sibling, and they would have such a special bond," Lorelai pointed out. "We would have a reason to see her more often."

She was right, if they were going to have a surrogate, Rory would be the perfect candidate. But someone had to speak up for Rory, she didn't know what she was getting herself into by offering this.

"I think we should just try this new treatment first before we consider anything else," he replied. "The odds are a lot greater than they were before…we could do this for six months or a year, and if we don't conceive, we come back to surrogacy."

Lorelai looked at him with fear in her eyes. This had been a long, hard road, and it wasn't going to get any easier. Not only did she want a child with Luke, she wanted to be able to carry that child, and experience all the ups and downs that come along with being pregnant.

"Okay," she nodded in agreement.

"Really?" He asked excitedly.

"Yeah really, I want to be the one to carry our child," she said. "I want to give it a year, and if we don't conceive by then, we'll discuss either stopping treatment all together or possibly trying surrogacy."

"Deal," Luke smiled widely. "I have a good feeling about this treatment, it fell into our lap at the right time, it's going to work."

"I hope so," she said cautiously as she leaned in to him.

"I love you so much," he wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I love _you_ so much," she murmured against his chest.

A few days later, Lorelai was at the front desk at the Dragonfly when April came in the front door with her cell phone in hand.

"Lorelai, can I go to the movies tonight?" She asked

"With who?" Lorelai glanced up briefly as she continued to sort through a stack of paperwork.

"Marissa," she said with caution.

Lorelai's head shot up. "Absolutely not."

"Why?"

"You know why!" Lorelai raised her voice. "That was part of your punishment, you can't hang out with anyone from the party."

"I have no other friends here," April complained.

"Those people are not your friends," she scoffed, she glanced around the lobby to make sure no one overheard them. "They let that asshole almost drug and rape you, April. Is that the kind of people you want to hang out with?"

"If I don't have anyone else to hang out with, then yes," April raised her voice. "They were drunk, they didn't know he was going to do that."

"Then who's to say you guys won't get drunk again, and maybe they'll let the next guy succeed?" Lorelai wondered.

"I won't let that happen because I'm not going to get drunk again," she told her.

"April, I know you're a great kid, and I really don't want to treat you otherwise, I know you normally make good choices, but peer pressure is what got you in that mess, and I know it could easily happen again," Lorelai said.

"Why can't you just trust me?" April questioned.

"It's not you that I don't trust, it's them, that's why we made the rule that you couldn't hang out with any of those kids," she said.

"I want to go home!" April exclaimed as she started for the door.

"Fine, I'll see you when I get there," Lorelai replied.

"No, I want to go back to Mom's," April clarified before she slammed the front door behind her.

Lorelai let out a sigh before picking up her cell phone to call her husband.

"Luke's."

"Hey, it's me," she said quietly. "You got a minute?"

"Yeah," he said before telling Cesar he was going into the store room for a few minutes. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, but I thought you should know, April came in from taking care of the horses and she asked to go to the movies with Marissa, who is one of the girls from the party," Lorelai explained.

"You told her she couldn't go, right?"

"Yeah, then she said she wanted to go back to New Mexico, and stormed out," she continued. "So if you talk to her, I wanted to let you know what was going on."

"Thanks Lorelai, I'll talk to her," Luke said. "And I was actually getting ready to call you…"

"Oh yeah?" She asked. "What's going on?"

"You remember Tillie from the soccer team a few years ago?" Luke asked.

"Of course, she was a beast on the field," Lorelai acknowledged.

"Well, she came into the diner today looking for a job," Luke explained. "I've already hired summer workers, so I don't have a place for her, she seemed desperate, and I told her to check with you, she's probably on her way there now."

"Okay, I'll talk to her, there's probably something here she can do, especially if April goes back to New Mexico sooner than we'd planned," she sighed.

"She's not going back to New Mexico, I'll talk to her," he assured her.

"Okay, I'll see you when I get home," she replied.

"See you when you get home."

A few minutes later as Lorelai was opening the mail, she heard the front door open. She looked up to see Tillie coming into the lobby.

"Lorelai?"

"Yes, hi," she smiled at the girl.

"I'm not sure if you remember me—"

"Of course I do, Tillie, you helped lead the soccer team in back-to-back championships in your league," Lorelai smiled.

"That's me, but I actually go by my real name now…Natalie," she said.

"Well Natalie, I just got off the phone with Luke and he said you might be stopping by," she told her, leading her over to the couch. "Here, have a seat."

"Thank you," Natalie nodded as they sat down.

"So Luke said you're looking for a job," Lorelai said. "Are you still in high school?"

"Yes, I'll be a senior in the fall," she replied. "I don't really have any experience in anything, but I can assure you, I'm a hard worker."

"Do you still play soccer?" she asked.

"I do, but I can promise you it won't get in the way of me working," Natalie assured her.

"I'm not worried about it getting in the way, I just know how passionate you are about soccer, the fact that you've stuck with it all your life shows you're a hard worker," Lorelai pointed out. "Is Megan still playing soccer?"

"Yeah, her family moved to DC during our sophomore year, she's hoping to get a scholarship to Georgetown University," Natalie explained.

"What about you? What are your college plans?" Lorelai asked.

"I'd like to go to UConn, but most colleges like that don't pay attention to small town leagues, so I'll probably go to Southern Connecticut State and hope I can get into the soccer program there," Natalie explained.

"I bet you're good enough to get in at UConn," she assured her. "What do you plan on going to school for?"

"Sport Management," Natalie said. "And both of those colleges have programs for that."

"That's great," Lorelai smiled. "How do you feel about horses?"

"I love horses!"

"Perfect, I recently just added four horses to the two we already had, and I need more help with them, my stepdaughter is currently helping with them, but she will be going back to her mom's in a few weeks and we'll need someone else," Lorelai explained. "Of course we have a horse trainer/riding instructor, as well as another stable hand who take care of the horses, and assist our guests with the horses. Is that something you'd like to do?"

"I'd be happy to," she told her.

"The pay isn't going to be great, but I'm hoping we can start doing riding lessons for kids, and that would bring in more money, and we could give you a raise," she said.

"That's okay, I'm just wanting to get out of the house for the summer," Natalie replied. "When can I start?"

"Come in tomorrow morning around 9, I'll introduce you to Rylie, she's our equine extraordinaire, as well as Evan, the other stable hand, and hopefully April, my stepdaughter, and you can get started," Lorelai replied.

"Thank you so much Lorelai," Natalie smiled widely. "I really appreciate the opportunity."

"You're very welcome," Lorelai replied as they both stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

When Lorelai walked through the backdoor into the house that evening, she was hanging her purse up in the mud room when Luke peered around the corner from the kitchen.

"Hey," he greeted, causing Lorelai to jump.

"You scared me, I thought you'd still be at the diner," she said as she kicked off her heels and made her way to him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she greeted him with a kiss.

"After you called, I figured I would come home and talk to April," he said as he went back to the stove to continue with dinner and she took a seat on one of the barstools.

"How did that go?" Lorelai wondered.

"She was mad, but I talked her out of wanting to go back to New Mexico, I reminded her that was part of her punishment that she couldn't hang out with those girls," he explained. "I don't even know why she would want to hang out with them."

"Because believe it or not, teenagers don't want to hang out with their parents all the time, no matter how awesome they are," she said. "She needs friends…but I think we may have a solution to the problem."

"Which is?"

"Natalie is going to start working with the horses tomorrow, I thought maybe she and April would get along," Lorelai told him.

"Natalie?"

"Tillie, it's short for Natalie, she goes by that name now," she reminded him.

"Right, I remember her telling me that now," he nodded. "You think they would get along?"

"I think so, they're both good kids, maybe some of the same interests, I'm not going to push it, but I'll introduce them, and if they're both out helping with the horses, maybe they'll forge a friendship," Lorelai shrugged.

"That sounds great, hopefully they get along," he agreed.

"Where is April anyway?" Lorelai asked.

"She's upstairs in her room," Luke said.

"I'm going to go talk to her," she said, sliding off the barstool and going toward the stairs.

When Lorelai got to April's room, the door was open, so she knocked lightly on the frame.

"Come in," she said, not taking her eyes off her book from where she sat on her bed.

"Can we talk?" Lorelai asked.

"Sure," she replied, finally looking up at her.

Lorelai sat on the foot of April's bed and sighed.

"I know you're mad that we won't let you hang out with Marissa, I probably would be too, but knowing what could have happened that night, it's not a risk I'm willing to take," Lorelai explained. "I know you're a great kid, you've always been responsible and made good choices, but peer pressure got the best of you, and I'm worried that will happen again."

"It won't happen again."

"You can't say that for sure, April," she shook her head. "And I don't want to get the phone call next time that is you crying for help and me not being able to help you, or something worse that I can't even bring myself to say. I don't want to have to pick your dad up off the floor after he's taken a phone call from someone telling him his daughter isn't coming home."

"Lorelai, I mean it won't happen again because I'm not going to hang out with them," April paused. "The last couple of years that I've come out here to visit, I always had fun hanging out with them, but just a few months ago, they started drinking and partying, and I started trying it too because I didn't want them to treat me like an outcast when I came to visit, but I don't want to be a part of that."

Lorelai smiled as tears threatened to fall, she scooted closer to April and pulled her into her embrace.

"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that," she said before sitting back to look at April, taking her by the hand. "I know hanging out with your dad and me all the time isn't anyone's idea of fun, but I hired a girl your age at the Dragonfly today, and I think you might like her."

"What will she be doing?" April wondered.

"She'll be working with the horses too," Lorelai told her.

"Cool."

"So I'm guessing you're not going back home?" She asked.

"No, I'm here for the duration," April grinned.

"Good…now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to change out of these work clothes, and then see if your dad needs help in the kitchen," Lorelai told her.

"Okay," she nodded, before Lorelai walked out, April spoke up. "Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for being such a brat today," she said.

"It's okay," Lorelai smiled before turning to leave.

* * *

 **Again, please let me know what you think!**


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Sorry it's taken so long to get another chapter up! Work has been super busy lately, and I've been dealing with a family crisis. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Lorelai walked through the backdoor of the Dragonfly to the kitchen to find Sookie having a meltdown over a dish that hadn't been plated correctly. While most of their patrons wouldn't notice nor mind, Sookie held herself and her kitchen staff to a much higher standard.

"Sookie…" she called out after Sookie had told her staff to get back to work following her tirade.

"Hi," Sookie said sadly.

"It's okay, if you make it through the day with only one mistake, we're doing great," Lorelai said as she poured herself some coffee.

"I know, but that is one of the Dragonfly's signature dishes, it can't be plated that way," Sookie complained.

"The guests don't know how it's supposed to be plated," she reminded her.

"If they've had it before, they know how it should be plated," Sookie replied.

"But what if it was wrong last time?"

"Oh no, what if it was wrong last time too?" She panicked as she came to the realization.

"At least you'll have some consistency," Lorelai patted Sookie on the back before leaving the kitchen, when she stepped into the lobby, she saw Natalie waiting on her.

"Morning," Natalie greeted.

"Good morning," Lorelai smiled. "If you'll follow me, there is some paperwork that needs to be filled out, then I will introduce you to everyone and you can get started."

Fifteen minutes later, April came walking into Lorelai's office with two coffees and a bag from Luke's.

"Sorry it took so long, Savannah was—" April noticed Natalie filling out her paperwork in front of Lorelai's desk. "Sorry, I'll wait out here."

"No April, come in, I need coffee," Lorelai said before taking a sip from the coffee cup on her desk.

"But you have coffee," April pointed out.

"I know, I need diner coffee," she held her hand out for April to give her the cup in her hand, which she did. "April this is Natalie, Natalie this is my stepdaughter, April, you two will be working together."

"Hi," Natalie said.

"Nice to meet you," April told her.

"You too," Natalie nodded.

"What were you saying about Savannah?" Lorelai asked as Natalie went back to filling out her paperwork.

"She was running late and Dad was swamped, so I had to help him out for a little bit until she got there," April explained as she placed the bag down on the desk.

"That's okay," Lorelai said, taking a sip of coffee.

April took a muffin from the bag and went to the lobby to talk to Michel. When Natalie finished her paperwork, they came out into the lobby.

"Are you going to bother Michel all day or are you going to work?" Lorelai teased.

"I'm going to work, I was waiting on you so I could walk out to the stables with Natalie," April told her.

"Then let's go, we're going out there now," Lorelai said, before turning to Natalie as they walked out the door. "Natalie, as you can see by April's outfit, we like our employees who work directly with guests to wear our logo, we have some extras out here in the stables that will probably fit, both long sleeve and short sleeve, if not, we can get some ordered for you. You can wear black or khaki pants or dark wash jeans, but if you don't have any you'd like to get dirty, we can order you some riding pants too."

"Okay," Natalie replied.

They walked out to the stables, Lorelai pointed out the office area where Natalie could put her personal belongings while she worked. They continued through the barn until they found Rylie, a petite woman in her late 20s.

"Rylie, this is Natalie, she's going to be our new stable hand, she doesn't have any experience, but I know you will be able to teach her all she needs to know. She's a very hard worker, so I think she's going to be a great asset to the team," Lorelai explained.

"Great, it's nice to meet you Natalie," Rylie smiled as she stuck her hand out to shake Natalie's hand.

"Nice to meet you too," Natalie replied.

"As long as you don't take advice of this one here…" Rylie nodded toward April. "You should be good."

"Hey!" April's mouth gaped open as the rest of them laughed.

"Rylie, I'll let you introduce her to the horses and Evan, so you can get back to work," Lorelai said, then turned to Natalie. "If you need anything let me know."

Everything had gone smoothly until lunchtime rolled around. April came bounding into the kitchen where Lorelai was.

"Hi, how are things going with Natalie?" Lorelai asked.

"Good, she's really nice," April replied.

"What do you want for lunch, April?" Sookie asked as she was already preparing Lorelai's lunch.

"Can I just get a turkey burger and sweet potato fries?" April requested.

"Of course, coming right up," Sookie replied.

"Where is Natalie?" Lorelai asked.

"She said she didn't bring anything for lunch, so she's just going to keep working," April answered.

Lorelai furrowed her brow. "I'll be right back," she said as she turned around and left.

She got out to the stables, but didn't see the girl. "Natalie?"

"In here," Natalie stuck her head out from one of the stalls she was cleaning.

"I came to see if you wanted some lunch," Lorelai said, making her way to where Natalie was.

"Oh, I didn't bring anything to eat, so I'm just going to keep working," Natalie told her.

"I don't think so, come with me, Sookie will make you something from the kitchen and you can have lunch with April and me," Lorelai told her.

"Lorelai, no, I don't have the money to pay for it," she shook her head nervously.

"Don't worry about it," Lorelai told her. "While you're on the clock, the staff eats free…within reason, of course. We can't really afford to feed everyone prime rib every day."

"Okay," she said as she put down the shovel in her hand.

On the walk back to the main house, Lorelai noticed how quiet Natalie was being and that she watched the ground as she walked.

"Is everything okay?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, it's fine," Natalie replied, barely glancing up at Lorelai.

"Do you not like the job?" She asked.

"No, I love the job, working with the horses is so much fun and everyone is so nice," Natalie replied.

"Good I'm glad," Lorelai paused. "You know, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here, I'll be happy to listen or help you work through whatever you need."

"Okay, thanks," she smiled.

A few days later, April was carrying a saddle out of the tack room when Natalie walked into the stables, late for work. April quickly put down the saddle and went toward her friend, who looked like she had been crying.

"Natalie, are you okay?" April panicked.

"It's nothing," Natalie brushed her off.

"It's not nothing," April argued. "You look like you've been crying."

"My stepdad was in a bad mood this morning, he decided to take it out on me, that's why I'm running late," Natalie told her.

"Did he hurt you?" April asked.

"No, he just yelled at me," she replied.

"Is this the first time this has happened?" April wondered as she went back over to pick up the saddle.

"No, he has a pretty bad temper, so he yells a lot," Natalie explained as she helped April get the saddle onto Desdemona.

"He didn't hit you, did he?" April asked

"No, no, nothing like that," she answered as she secured the saddle on the horse.

As the girls walked up from the stables that evening, Lorelai was near the Jeep waiting on April.

"You ready to go, kid?" She asked April.

"Yeah, can Natalie come over for dinner?" April asked. "Her mom said it was okay."

"Of course!" Lorelai smiled as she got in the Jeep, so did the girls. "How did it go with that Girl Scout troop this afternoon?"

"It was a lot of fun," April said. "I miss being a Girl Scout."

"Their troop leader had great things to say about all the staff, but particularly you, Natalie," Lorelai said, glancing into the backseat at the girl. "She told me how great you were with the girls."

"I was just having fun," Natalie shrugged.

"Well, thank you, you did a great job," Lorelai said.

"You're welcome," Natalie mumbled.

When they got to the house, Luke was already there cooking dinner. The girls went straight for the kitchen as Lorelai removed her blazer and heels in the mud room.

"Hey girls," Luke said as April hovered over the stove to see what he was cooking.

"Hi Dad, dinner smells delicious," April told him.

"Thanks kiddo," he replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before glancing over at the other girl standing in the kitchen. "Tillie, hi, it's good to see you again. Are you staying for dinner?"

She nodded. "I hope that's okay."

"Of course it is, we have plenty," Luke told her.

"Her name is Natalie, Dad," April reminded him.

"It's okay, my mom still calls me Tillie, I just think it's a nickname for a little kid," she explained.

"We're going up to my room," April told her dad as Lorelai came into the kitchen.

"Okay, I'll let you know when dinner is ready," Luke said before the girls took off upstairs.

"Hi babe," Lorelai said, going over to Luke and kissing him.

"Hi," he smiled. "Did you have a good day?"

"I did," she replied. "How was yours?"

"Busy, thankfully Savannah needed overtime, so I was able to come home early," Luke said as continued to cook dinner. "I see April and Natalie are getting along well."

"Yeah, I'm so glad they hit it off, April needs people she can hang out with while she's here, and I think Natalie was in need of a friend too," Lorelai said as she hoisted herself onto one of the barstools.

"What makes you say that?" He asked.

"I don't know…that first day she started, she wasn't going to eat lunch because she didn't bring anything and didn't have any money, so I told her our rule about free lunch while on the clock, I had her eat lunch with April and me, she's done so every day since," Lorelai explained. "That first day she just seemed sad, but now she and April are talking and laughing and being silly like they've been friends for years."

"That's good, I'm glad you put them together in the stables," Luke told her.

"I am too," Lorelai smiled. "I'm going to change clothes before dinner is ready."

"Okay, probably by the time you finish changing, this should be ready," he said.

"I'll let the girls know before I come back downstairs," she replied as she walked toward the stairs.

For most of dinner, the girls had been carrying on, talking and laughing while Luke and Lorelai sat in amusement, just happy to have commotion in their house.

"So Natalie, I don't ever remember meeting your parents when I was the soccer team sponsor. Were they at the games I went to?" Luke asked.

"No, my mom and stepdad didn't want me playing soccer, so they haven't ever been to any of my games," she confessed.

"Not a single one?" Lorelai asked, saddened by the fact.

"Nope, that's why I was happy that you sponsored our team," she turned to Luke. "Soccer has changed my life, and if you hadn't been our sponsor, I probably wouldn't have been able to play, I'd be in a very different place right now."

"Well, I'm glad I could help," Luke smiled warmly.

Lorelai looked at her husband and could see the tears welling up in his eyes at Natalie's revelation. She reached over and took his hand under the table as she smiled at him.

Later that evening, as Luke was preparing Lorelai's injection, she looked up at him and smiled.

"What?" He asked.

"You changed that girl's life, Luke," she said as she pushed some stray hair from his face.

"How?"

"You heard her, if you hadn't sponsored their team, she wouldn't have been able to play soccer…soccer is her life, she even practices in the stables when she has time," Lorelai explained, holding up her shirt so he could see the injection site. "If she didn't have that, she may not have anything."

"I can't believe her mom wouldn't go to any of her games," Luke said, quickly poking the needle into her abdomen.

"It makes you want to go to all of her games and cheer her on, doesn't it?" Lorelai asked, knowing she felt that way when she heard Natalie's confession at dinner.

"Yeah it does," he smiled faintly before he disposed of the needle and they readied for bed.

The next day, April and Natalie were getting things in order for the day camp group to come in the following day since April would be gone to New York. The pair had been giggling as they walked back into the tack room. Natalie stood on her tiptoes as she reached up to grab one of the leads that was higher on the wall. When she did, the sleeve of her shirt slipped down, and April noticed a bruise on her arm.

"Where'd you get that bruise?" April asked.

Natalie quickly pulled her arm back. "Yesterday when we were taking out the trash, I threw the bag into the little door on the side and hit the top of it with my arm." She told her.

"Natalie, that looks like a handprint," April told her, taking Natalie by the hand to look a little closer.

"I-it's not," Natalie told her, but knew it was too late.

"That's a handprint," April confirmed, raising her voice after looking at it a little closer. "Did your stepdad do this to you?"

"Sshhh!" Natalie exclaimed.

"Natalie, what did he do to you?" April asked as they sat down on a bale of hay.

"He was just mad because I didn't take out the trash before he got home from work because I was at your house, he squeezed my arm too hard, that's all," She explained. "I don't think he really meant to, he was just really angry with me."

"That's no excuse, my dad gets mad at me, but he would never lay a hand on me," April told her as she started to get up.

"Wait, where are you going?" Natalie asked as she grabbed April's arm to stop her.

"I'm going to talk to Lorelai, she can help you, we can make him stop," April said.

"April no, you can't tell anyone," Natalie began to panic, as she stood up. "It's just a bruise, and I don't think he'll do it again, he apologized to me this morning."

"Natalie, if he did it once, he has the potential to do it again," April argued.

"I don't think he will," Natalie repeated. "Please, just don't tell your parents, because if they go to my parents, that might make things worse, plus I don't want Lorelai thinking I'm going to be a problem as an employee because of this."

April just stared at her for a few moments, but didn't speak.

"Please April, promise you won't say anything," Natalie pleaded again.

April sighed. "I won't say anything this time, but if it happens again, I'm telling my parents, he can't do this to you."

"He won't," Natalie said.

"Okay," April nodded.

The pair went back to work, quiet at first, but soon back to their giggly ways. They hadn't even noticed how late it was until Lorelai walked into the stables. She found the pair putting fresh hay into one of the stalls.

"Are you two staying the night here?" She asked.

"No, why?" Natalie looked up.

"It's 5:10, I've been waiting out by the Jeep for you," she said. "I could hear you giggling all the way out there."

"Yeah, let us finish putting the hay in Calamity's stall, so it will be ready when she comes in," April said.

Rylie came into the stables, leading Apollo to his stall just as the girls were finishing their task.

"Hey Lorelai," she said.

"Hey Rylie," Lorelai replied.

"Did you come to get my troublemakers?" She asked.

"Troublemakers?" April countered.

"Us? No way!" Natalie added.

"Yeah right…if you worked as hard as you giggled, I'd never have to lift a finger," Rylie teased.

"They haven't been causing problems, have they?" Lorelai asked.

"No, they definitely keep us laughing though," Rylie admitted.

"Good, I'm glad you guys have some fun while working," Lorelai smiled. "Are you heading home soon?"

"Yeah, I have to doctor that cut on Sunday's leg, then I'll be out of here," Rylie told her.

"How's it looking?" Lorelai asked.

"It's almost fully healed now, I just don't want to take any chances," Rylie explained.

"That's why you're my equine extraordinaire," Lorelai smiled. "I'm going to take my girls and get out of your hair…I'll see you when we get back."

"Okay, have a safe trip to New York," she told them. "Natalie, I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay," they all replied.

Late the next morning, Luke pulled into the parking garage near Jess and Rory's building, April was giggling at her dad and Lorelai arguing over his road rage.

"Thank God that you won't have to drive again until we leave," Lorelai said as they exited the vehicle, collecting their luggage before walking toward the building.

"Yeah, so I won't have to listen to you complain about my impeccable driving," he replied before slipping an arm around her shoulders and pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Ha!" Lorelai exclaimed as they entered the lobby where the elevators were located.

"I got us here in one piece, didn't I?" He asked, turning to his daughter. "April, tell her I'm a good driver."

"As long as everyone is driving the way you want them to…yes, you're a good driver," she mumbled as they got on the elevator and Lorelai pushed the button for the floor they needed.

Lorelai let out a laugh again. "See! April agrees with me."

"You're both insane," he said.

Once they got to the door of the penthouse, April rang the doorbell. A few moments later, Jess opened the door. They greeted each other as they came through the door.

"Rory's at work?" Luke asked as Jess shut the door behind them.

"Yeah, she said to call her before we decide to head to lunch and she would meet us there," Jess replied. "Can I get you guys anything?"

They all politely declined as Jess showed them to the rooms they would be staying in.

"This place looks great, I love what you two have done with it," Lorelai commented as they came back into the living room, taking a seat.

"Thanks, it's mostly Rory's doing," he replied.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Lorelai asked.

"Oh yeah," he confessed. "That's all I've thought about all week."

"She's going to say yes," Luke assured him.

"Can I see the ring?" Lorelai asked

"Yeah, let me go get it," he replied before exiting the room.

When he came back, he handed the box to Lorelai as he sat down next to her. She carefully opened the box and let out a gasp.

"Jess, it's beautiful," she told him. "She's going to love it."

"You did a great job, kid," Luke commended.

"Can I see?" April asked, Lorelai passed the box to her. "So pretty…yeah, there's no way she can say no to this."

"Oh, there's a way…I just hope she doesn't choose that way," Jess asked as April handed the ring box back to him. "Are you guys ready to go to lunch?"

"I could eat," Lorelai replied as Jess went to put the ring back in its hiding place.

When he came back a few moments later, he picked up his phone off the kitchen counter. "Rory wanted to take you to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, but she said if you want something else, we can go somewhere else," he told them.

"That's fine with us," Lorelai replied.

"Okay, let me call her and see if she can get away," he said before dialing Rory's number.

"Are they here?" Rory squealed into the phone when she answered.

"Hi Jess, how are you today?" Jess asked mockingly.

"Jess, you know I love you, but I'm beyond ready to see my mom," she told him.

"I know, I know," he replied. "Are you ready to go to lunch?"

"Yeah, I'll grab my purse and be out the door, I'll meet you there in about ten minutes," Rory said.

"Sounds great, see you there," he answered before they hung up, he turned back to his family. "Ready?"

"Let's go," Lorelai said excitedly, ready to see her daughter.

They had just been seated when Rory walked in. Luke watched as Lorelai's eyes lit up and she immediately jumped up from her seat to greet her daughter. Even though it had only been a few weeks, he knew Lorelai had been missing Rory a lot.

"Hi Mom," Rory said happily.

"Hey kid," Lorelai smiled as they hugged. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," she said, holding on to her mom tightly.

They held onto each other a few moments longer before Rory went to hug Luke, then April. She shared a brief kiss with Jess as she sat down.

"How's work going today?" Luke asked.

"Not bad, I'm ready to be off work for a few days though," Rory replied.

"So what do you have planned for us?" Lorelai asked anxiously.

"Well, tonight we have the tickets to Wicked, and we thought tomorrow and Friday we could go see some touristy stuff, Empire State Building, Times Square, Coney Island, Statue of Liberty and such, we can show April where we work, and if we have time we can go visit Lady Astor and Lord Lenox," Rory explained.

"Yay!" April squealed excitedly.

"Who is that?" Luke asked confused.

"The lion statues at the New York Public Library," Jess answered.

"A library?" Luke asked, then looked to his daughter. "Really?"

"It's not just any library, Dad," April said. "They have over 53 _million_ books."

"And then on Saturday we can sleep in a little, Jess and I will make breakfast at home, then Jess suggested spending the day in Central Park, there are all kinds of things going on there at this time of year," Rory continued.

"Sounds perfect," Lorelai smiled, giving Jess a knowing glance.

"Then Sunday is up to you guys since it's your anniversary," Rory told her mom and Luke. "We didn't know if you'd want to have the day to yourselves or spend it with us."

Lorelai looked to Luke and smiled. "We discussed it and we'd like to spend it with you guys," he told them.

"You think we have time for a mani-pedi in the morning?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm not participating," Luke added.

"We could probably squeeze that in," Rory nodded, then turned to Jess. "You think you and Luke could find something to do while we have some girl time?"

"I know I could find us something to do," Jess replied.

"Perfect." Rory grinned.

* * *

 **Let me know what you thought! I hope to have the next chapter up soon!**


	13. Chapter Twelve

_Hi everyone, I would like to apologize for the delay in updates. My grandma passed away a couple weeks ago, so it's been a busy/hectic time in my life. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Please let me know what you think of this chapter!_

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

The last few days had gone by quickly. They had covered a lot of ground and saw a lot of things. Even though Lorelai had looked forward to sleeping in on Saturday, she was far too excited and had woken up before 7.

"Luke," she whispered, when he didn't respond, she reached over and stroked his cheek with her thumb. "Luuuuke."

"What?" He growled, unmoving and still half asleep.

"Wake up," she whispered, running her fingers through his hair.

He opened his eyes and looked at her before closing them again. "Why are you awake before me?" He asked her.

"Because it's engagement day and I'm too excited to sleep," she squeaked.

"Then why didn't you go in the other room to be too excited, and let me sleep?" He grumbled, finally opening his eyes long enough to meet her gaze.

"Because you're the only person I can be excited with, Jess is too nervous to be excited, April is probably still asleep and Rory doesn't know," she explained.

"Can't we be excited after she says yes?" He wondered.

"Oh, I will be waaay more excited after she says yes," she grinned.

"You're not going to let me go back to sleep, are you?" He asked.

"Nope," she answered as she continued to run her fingers through his hair.

After Luke put on a t-shirt and sweatpants, and Lorelai put on her robe, they both made their way into the kitchen to find Rory leaning against the counter drinking coffee as Jess cut up fruit to go with breakfast.

"Good morning," Rory said happily.

"Morning," Luke and Lorelai replied.

"Thanks for bringing more coffee, Luke," she told him.

"You're welcome," he smiled back as he watched his wife take a cup from one of the hooks next to the coffee pot and pour herself a cup.

"We have tea if you want any, I'll put water on to boil," Rory said, putting her cup on the counter and grabbing the water kettle.

"I'll do it," Luke replied, trying to take the kettle from her.

"No, let us take care of you guys for once," Rory swatted his hand away.

Luke's eyes went wide as he looked from Rory to Lorelai, finding her stifling a laugh. "Did you see that?"

"I did…she's serious," Lorelai nodded, taking a sip of her own coffee.

"Now go have a seat and we'll start on breakfast since the majority of the family is awake," Rory motioned for them to leave the kitchen.

Lorelai noticed pictures from their trip pulled up on Rory's laptop as she sat down at the dining room table.

"Oh, are these the pictures April has been taking?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, she gave me her memory card last night so I could have the pictures," Rory replied.

"Some of these are really good," Lorelai said as she went through the pictures. "Luke, have you seen these?"

"No," he answered before going to sit next to his wife in front of the laptop on the table as she continued through the pictures. "I didn't even know she was interested in photography, but she definitely has an eye for it."

"We'll have to make sure she takes plenty today," Lorelai whispered to Luke.

"I'm sure she will," he replied.

After eating breakfast, Rory went to take a shower while Luke and Jess cleaned up the kitchen. April and Lorelai remained at the dining room table, looking over the pictures again so Lorelai could praise the girl on her work.

"So what's your plan this afternoon?" Luke asked Jess.

"Hold on," he said, putting a plate in the dishwasher before going to his and Rory's room to make sure the shower was running before coming back. "We will spend the day doing whatever, and since we have dinner reservations at the Boathouse, I'd like the Shakespeare Garden to be our last stop before then since it's not very far from there."

"We could stop to have April take some pictures of the two of you, and when she does, you can get down on one knee and propose," Lorelai suggested, having already talked to April about photographing the event.

"Good idea," he agreed.

"Do you have anywhere in particular in mind?" April asked her cousin.

"There's a staircase that she loves to sit at the top and people-watch, I'll ask you to take some pictures of us there, when I do that, that will be your cue," Jess said. "Does that work?"

"That's perfect," April grinned. "I'm so excited."

The day couldn't have gone any better. They made their way through Central Park, stopping at various spots along the way. Per April's request, a light lunch was hot dogs from a hot dog vendor. They sat on blankets and people-watched for a while and even spent a little time in the zoo. Throughout the entire day, April had been taking pictures of her family, and occasionally Jess would take the camera to get pictures of Luke and Lorelai with the girls.

"We should probably start towards the Boathouse so we're not late," Jess suggested.

"We still have some time before we need to go, we don't want to be there too early or we'll be standing around anyway," Rory reminded him.

"But I thought you wanted to show April the Shakespeare Garden on the way," he replied.

"Oh, that's right," she remembered as she stood up.

As they walked through the garden, Rory was pointing out various things and places she liked to sit and read or people watch. Lorelai held onto Luke's hand tightly as they approached the stairway Jess had told them about.

"April, will you get some pictures of Rory and me up here?" Jess asked.

"Really?" Rory asked, obviously surprised he was requesting pictures.

"This is one of your favorite spots and I'm pretty fond of it myself, I figured we should have at least a couple pictures here," Jess shrugged.

As they started up the steps, April directed them in a few different poses. Once they were about halfway up, stopped for a pose, Jess pulled the black velvet box from his pocket and got down on one knee.

"Jess…" Rory gasped.

"Rory…our relationship has been a pretty rocky road, and I know that in the past I've made a lot of mistakes, I wasn't the man you deserved, that night you showed up in Philly, I thought that might be my second chance, but fate had other plans, we both needed to grow a little more separately before we were able to be reunited. Two years ago today, on the night of their rehearsal dinner…" he said, nodding toward Luke and Lorelai, Rory glanced at them and saw Luke's arm around her mom, who was crying. "That was the night I was able to convince you I could be the man you deserved…but honestly, I wasn't sure of that myself."

April continued to snap pictures as the scene played out before her.

"But the more time we spent together, the more I wanted to be a better man for you, the man you deserve and so much more," he continued. "And while I know I'm not there yet, I hope that you can see that that's what I'm working toward. I want to spend the rest of our lives together, Rory, and I really hope you feel the same way, because I'm asking you now...will you marry me?"

Rory's hand was over her mouth, she removed it to speak. "Yes!" she let out a laugh. "Of course I will marry you."

Jess quickly slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up, his arms went around her waist as hers went around his neck when their lips crashed together in a searing kiss. Luke and Lorelai began to clap as April continued to take pictures.

Once the two broke apart, Rory let out a tearful laugh, then held her left hand up to look at the ring on her finger.

"Jess, it's so perfect," she told him. "I love it."

"I'm glad…I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect one," he admitted.

"We're getting married," Rory said, she couldn't stop grinning.

"That we are," he nodded as they shared a brief kiss. "Now you better get over there and show your mom the ring before she attacks us."

"Oh my gosh…Mom!" she realized their family was still standing there.

Lorelai could barely contain her excitement as she let out a squeal when Rory started down the steps, Lorelai met her halfway.

"I'm so happy for you, kid," she said, hugging her daughter tightly before pulling back. "Now let me see that ring."

Rory held up the ring for them to see, Jess and April had joined them.

"Oh yeah, it definitely looks much better on your hand than it did in the box," Luke told her.

"You knew?" Rory asked him, then the realization hit her and she looked to Jess. "You asked for Luke's permission, didn't you?"

"Who else was I supposed to ask?" Jess asked.

"He asked both of us," Luke added, putting his arm around Lorelai's shoulders.

"When did you do that?" Rory asked Jess.

"When we went to visit time before last," Jess told her.

"And you've been holding out for this long?" She playfully smacked him in the chest.

"I had a plan!" He defended.

"Well thank you for asking them," she told him, then turned back to Luke, hugging him. "And thank you for saying yes."

"You're welcome, he knows he better keep you happy," Luke said, hugging her tightly as she kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for taking pictures, April, I can't wait to see them," Rory said to her stepsister, attempting to keep eyeliner from running down her cheeks.

"No problem, I'm glad I was able to be here for this," she smiled, taking Rory's hand to look at the ring.

"Me too," Rory smiled back.

Lorelai pulled a small cosmetic bag from her purse. "We better touch-up your makeup before we head over for dinner," she told her daughter, pulling her over to a nearby bench, April joined them.

"I'm proud of you, kid," Luke said, patting Jess on the back.

"Thanks Luke," he nodded. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you."

"That's not true," Luke shook his head.

"It is true, you got me on the right path and you made me want to be a better man," Jess told him. "So thank you."

"You did all the hard work, but you're welcome," Luke said modestly. "Does your mom know you were planning on proposing?"

"No, I knew she wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut, so I just decided to wait to tell her," Jess answered.

Meanwhile over on the bench, Lorelai was touching up Rory's makeup as April looked through the pictures.

"Are you guys really okay with this?" Rory asked. "The engagement."

"Of course we are, you know Luke and I wouldn't have given our permission if we weren't okay with it," Lorelai told her. "Jess has turned into a good man, he's worked so hard to get where he's at, and I know he's only going up from here."

"Good, because your opinion means the world to me," Rory replied.

Lorelai smiled as she examined her daughter's face. "You're all set," she told her, then pulled up a mirror to make sure her makeup was as it should be, once she was happy with it, she went over to her husband. "Ready?"

"Just waiting on you," Luke smiled at her.

As they sat at dinner, Rory couldn't stop staring at her ring.

"Let me see it again," Jess said, pulling her hand over to where he could see it, gaining new perspective with it being on her hand instead of in a box. "It looks so much better on your hand."

"But how did you manage this?" She wondered as they both continued to examine the ring.

"Well, that week we were both home for the wedding, the more time I spent with you, the more time I wanted to spend with you, and by the night of the rehearsal dinner, I knew I didn't want to let you leave town without a promise of more," Jess explained. "And once I knew you felt the same way, I just felt like it was meant to be, so I started putting money back for when that time came."

"You were so sure, even then?" Rory asked.

"Sure I wanted to marry you? Yeah. Sure we would make it? No…I figured I would screw it up somehow, but I wanted to be ready just in case I didn't screw it up, so that I could buy you a ring you would love," he explained.

"Well, I do love it," she said happily.

"You got lucky, because she probably would have killed you if she knew you were putting back money for this when you were having money problems," Lorelai quipped.

"Yeah, I didn't think I was going to have enough to get the ring I wanted to get her when we hit that rough patch," Jess admitted. "So I put it off for a little while."

"Well, the ring is perfect, the date was perfect, the place was perfect, and having Mom, Luke and April here to witness it was perfect," Rory smiled, leaning into him.

"So now the question is…do you still want to spend tomorrow with us or do you want time to yourself?" Lorelai asked.

"Of course we want to spend time with you, you'll be leaving on Monday, we want to spend as much time with you as possible," Rory answered.

"April mentioned going to the Museum of Natural History," Luke said.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Rory agreed. "It's been awhile since we've been there."

"Sounds good to me," Jess agreed.

"Ooh, you think the exhibits will come to life?" Lorelai asked excitedly.

April laughed. "They only come to life at night."

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Lorelai frowned. "Maybe we can hide there and stay the night."

"We are not staying the night at the museum," Luke said.

"Aw, come on Luke, where's your sense of adventure?" Jess asked, elbowing him in the arm.

"It's somewhere with my hope of getting my entire family arrested," he answered.

"You're no fun," Lorelai said, crossing her arms for dramatic effect.

The next morning, Rory and April stood outside of Luke and Lorelai's room holding trays of food.

"You go in first," April whispered.

"No, you go in first," Rory replied.

"You're the oldest, you should go in first," April argued.

"I'm the oldest, so I'm the boss, you go in first," Rory countered.

"Oh no, just because you're older doesn't mean you're the boss," April told her. "I have young, impressionable eyes. What if they're in a compromising position? I don't want to see that."

"Neither do I!" Rory replied.

"We probably should've thought this whole plan through," April sighed as she leaned against the wall.

Inside the room, Luke had been awake for a while, and Lorelai was woken up by whispering outside of their room.

Luke chuckled quietly. "How long do you think they'll stand out there arguing over who is coming in first?" He asked his wife.

"Probably all day if we let them," Lorelai replied.

"If you're going to stand outside the door whispering all morning, you might as well come in!" Luke exclaimed.

"Don't worry, we're completely dressed," Lorelai added.

Rory rolled her eyes at April. "See, now you woke them up."

"I wasn't the only one out here whispering," April retorted.

"You better get in here before you both get grounded!" Lorelai shouted through the door.

"You can't ground us," Rory said as she came through the door. "Well, you can ground her, I'm an adult."

"Wanna bet?" Luke asked as he sat up. "You'll stay home while the rest of us go to the museum today."

"Mean," Rory retorted.

"But we brought you breakfast," April pointed out.

"Well in that case…" Lorelai grinned as she also sat up.

"Happy Anniversary," the girls said in unison as they gave the trays to their parents.

"Thank you," Luke and Lorelai replied.

"You made all of this?" Lorelai asked looking at all of the food spread out on the trays.

"Yep," April answered. "Rory made the French toast and bacon, I did the turkey sausage and hash browns, the fruit was left over from yesterday."

"It looks delicious," Luke told them. "I'm so proud of you both for doing this."

"Thanks," Rory smiled. "And sorry for waking you up."

"It's okay, I was already awake," Luke replied.

"You woke me up, but as long as you bring me breakfast in bed, you can wake me up any morning," Lorelai added happily.

Later that afternoon, they made their way through the American Museum of Natural History, enjoying their time together as a family.

"I think I'm going to take a break for a minute," Luke told them as he found a bench to sit on.

"Oh, the next exhibit is the one I've been dying to see," April said excitedly. "Can I go ahead?"

"I'd rather you not go alone," Luke told her.

"I'll go with her," Lorelai said as the pair took off toward the next exhibit.

"I'm going to go over here to look at this thing about Darwin," Jess said, pointing to the other side of the room.

"Okay, I'll stay here with Luke," Rory replied.

"You don't have to, go ahead with Jess," Luke told her.

"No, I want to stay here with you," Rory said firmly as she took a seat next to him.

"I still can't believe you're engaged," Luke told her. "I feel like you should still be that little girl who had a funeral for a caterpillar."

"I was very attached to that caterpillar," she pouted.

"I know you were, you brought that thing into the diner every day for a week," Luke laughed as he recalled the memory.

"Are you really okay with it? Jess and me getting married, I mean?" She asked as she toyed with the ring on her finger.

"You know, I probably wouldn't have been as confident about saying yes, but the morning he asked for our blessing was that morning we had our chat at breakfast when it was just the two of us, your mom was sick in bed and Jess was asleep," Luke told her.

"I remember," Rory nodded.

"I realized then how much he had changed and how far he was willing to go to make sure you were happy and taken care of," Luke said. "So it was a lot easier for me to say yes."

"I'm glad, it makes me feel better knowing you guys are okay with it," she told him.

"While it's not easy letting go, I wouldn't have said yes if I hadn't been 100% confident in my answer," he assured her, putting an arm around her. "And I know your mom feels the same way."

"You're going to give me away at my wedding, right?" She asked.

"Rory…" he spoke softly, even though Lorelai had told him Rory would want him to walk her down the aisle, he didn't really believe her. "A-are you sure you don't want to ask your dad? Or maybe your grandfather?"

"I'm sure…I want you to do it," she looked up at him to find he had tears in his eyes. "I mean, if you don't want to, I can ask Grandpa."

"Rory, of course I want to do it, I just didn't think I'd be the person you'd ask," Luke told her, sitting up to look her in the eye.

"I can't think of a better person to ask," she admitted. "You're the one who remembers the caterpillar funeral, and made sure I had endless mashed potatoes when I had the chicken pox, you helped me learn to ride my bike, and cleaned up my knee when I wrecked, you've helped me with homework, made coffee cake for my birthday, you cried at my high school graduation, you moved me into Yale, and so many other things…Mom's the only other person who has been there for me more than you have, and I don't think you'll know how much that means to me."

"Maybe not, but I would be honored to be the one to give you away at your wedding," his voice cracked as he spoke, he made an attempt at blinking away the tears, but it just made it worse, and he began to laugh, so did Rory.

"Thank you Luke," she told him, hugging his arm tightly as she rested her head on his shoulder as she heard him sniffle. "You've turned into a pile of mush in your old age."

"Blame the fertility treatments, it's made both of us an emotional wreck," he replied.

"Well, I know you've decided to continue with those, but I want you to know that I plan on making sure I stay in the best health possible so if you decide to let me be your surrogate, I'll be ready," she said.

"I'm still not crazy about that idea," he shook his head, wiping the stray tears from his cheeks.

Rory sat up and looked at him. "I know, I just want you to keep your options open," she said as she saw Jess walking over toward them.

"I'm gonna go find Lorelai and April," Jess said, nodding toward the next room.

"We'll come with you," Luke told him as he and Rory stood.

Once they caught up to the other two, Lorelai immediately noticed Luke's eyes glistening. She lightly grabbed his arm, holding him back as Rory, Jess and April went ahead.

"Everything okay?" She asked him.

"Everything's perfect," he leaned in to give her a brief kiss. "You were right."

"About what?" Lorelai asked as they slowly followed the kids.

"Rory asked me to give her away at the wedding," Luke told her.

"I knew she would," Lorelai smiled widely at her husband.

"But what if Chris is there, won't that be weird?" Luke asked.

"I don't think he'll be there, she doesn't really talk to him anymore, she has a little brother and doesn't even know his name," Lorelai answered. "So I doubt he'll be invited, and if he is, she will probably let him know he's not to make a scene."

"Well, I'm going to let her know that if he causes problems for her, I'll step down," he said, putting an arm around his wife.

"That's very noble of you, but I'm pretty sure she's made up her mind," Lorelai replied.

"I just want her to be happy," he said.

"Well, I think she's pretty happy," she smiled, hugging his waist.

The next afternoon, April came into the room Luke and Lorelai had stayed in, finding them both packing up their belongings.

"Are we going straight home or will we be stopping along the way?" She asked.

"We don't have any plans along the way, if that's what you're asking," Luke answered. "Why?"

"Natalie was going to come over when we got there," April replied. "If that's okay."

"Yeah, that's fine," Luke said, then turned to Lorelai. "We don't have any plans, do we?"

"No, we don't," Lorelai shook her head.

"Okay, thanks," April grinned, returning to her room to gather her things.

Rory and Jess had errands to run, so they walked to the parking garage with Luke, Lorelai and April on their way out.

"Are you guys going to the lake house for the 4th of July?" Rory asked her mom.

"We haven't really discussed it," Lorelai replied, handing Luke her suitcase as he and Jess loaded their stuff into the back of the SUV. "Were you two wanting to go?"

"We both have a three day weekend, so we thought about being wherever you guys were going to be," Rory told her as they walked to the side of the SUV.

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "Are you just spending more time with us because your sister is here?" She asked.

"Of course not!" Rory put her hands on her hips.

"So it's not just a coincidence that you and Jess started spending more time with us at the same time April came to stay with us?" Lorelai asked.

"No, after spending all that time together as a family over Memorial Day weekend, Jess and I realized we wanted more of that," she explained, putting her arms down. "Before we had put off stuff until our three-day weekends, but we decided we want to spend more time with you guys whether April is here or not."

"So you're not jealous that we're spending all this time with her?" Lorelai asked quietly.

"Maybe a little, but I promise that's not why we're making more time for family…we really miss you and Luke, and I feel like the four of us are in a good place now, so it's not so awkward to spend time together," Rory replied.

"I agree, I'm glad things are finally somewhat normal," she agreed.

"Ready babe?" Luke asked as he approached them, putting his hand on the small of Lorelai's back.

"I suppose," Lorelai sighed, stepping up to hug her daughter and kiss her on the cheek. "Love you kid."

"Love you too Mom," Rory replied, then moved to hug Luke. "Bye Luke, love you."

"Love you too Rory," he said. "Take care."

"We will," Rory assured him, looking to her step-sister who was already in the SUV. "Bye April."

"Bye," April replied as she and Rory shared a hug. "Thanks for showing me around the city."

"No problem, come visit us any time," Rory smiled as Jess joined them.

"See ya around," Jess said as they shared a side hug.

"Bye Jess," she replied.

When they pulled into the driveway of their home, Natalie was sitting on the side porch. Luke pulled into the garage and April quickly jumped out and went to her friend.

"Hey," Natalie looked up at her with a sad smile.

That's when April noticed a faded bruise on her cheek.

"What happened?" April asked, rushing to sit next to her.

"It's no big deal," Natalie waved her off.

"It is a big deal, you have a bruise on your face," April said as she quickly got up and started back to the garage. "I'm telling Dad and Lorelai.

"Please don't, I'm worried it will just cause more problems," Natalie replied, quickly grabbing April by the arm. "I'm thinking of moving out, and I don't want to make things worse before that happens."

"April, come get your suitcase please," Luke called from the garage.

"Coming," April called back, then looked back to her friend.

"Please April…" Natalie pleaded.

April sighed. "I don't like this."

"I'll take care of it, just give me some time," she promised.

Natalie followed April back into the garage and Luke handed April her suitcase.

"Hey Luke," Natalie waved. "Is there anything I can carry in for you?"

"No, I think we got it all," Luke replied, pulling Lorelai's suitcase from the back of the car. "Thank you though."

The girls walked into the house and started up the stairs, meeting Lorelai in the upstairs hallway.

"Hey Natalie," Lorelai smiled.

"Hi," Natalie returned a half smile.

"Where'd you get that bruise?" Lorelai asked the girl.

"Uh, I was opening one of the stable doors and didn't realize the top half wasn't latched to the bottom half, and I ended up walking into it," Natalie lied.

"Ouch, you'll have to be more careful next time," Lorelai told her.

"I will," Natalie replied.

"We're going to order pizza for dinner, if you want to stay," Lorelai said as she started back down the stairs.

"Okay…if you don't mind me staying," the girl answered.

"Of course we don't mind," Lorelai smiled.

After Lorelai was out of earshot, April looked to her friend. "You need to tell someone."

"I told you," Natalie shrugged as they went to April's room.

"But there isn't much I can do to help you, I think you should talk to Lorelai about it," April said.

"Just drop it, okay?" Natalie spat. "I'll take care of it, I don't want to involve your parents or the police or anyone."

"Fine," April sighed.

The next morning, Lorelai and April were on their way to the Dragonfly when Lorelai's phone began to ring and Rylie's name flashed across the screen.

"Hello?"

"Lorelai, it's Rylie," she said with panic in her voice. "Can you come to the stables when you get here?"

"Of course, we're pulling up to the Dragonfly now," Lorelai answered. "Is everything okay? Did something happen to one of the horses?"

"No, the horses are fine…" Rylie answered, her voice shaky. "Just get out here."

* * *

 _A bit of a cliffhanger. What do you think happened?_


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Hey y'all! Sorry it's been awhile between updates, there's been a lot going on. And I'm going to warn you now, it may be a couple more weeks before I can get another update because I will be on vacation. I'll see if I can work something out though.**

 **Chapter 13**

 _The next morning, Lorelai and April were on their way to the Dragonfly when Lorelai's phone began to ring and Rylie's name flashed across the screen._

" _Hello?"_

" _Lorelai, it's Rylie," she said with panic in her voice. "Can you come to the stables when you get here?"_

" _Of course, we're pulling up to the Dragonfly now," Lorelai answered. "Is everything okay? Did something happen to one of the horses?"_

" _No, the horses are fine…" Rylie answered, her voice shaky. "Just get out here."_

"We have to get out to the stables," Lorelai said, pulling the keys from the ignition and tossing them in her purse as she and April took off.

"What's going on?" April wondered as she followed her stepmom.

"I'm not sure," Lorelai replied as they walked into the barn. "Rylie?"

"In here!" Rylie called from the tack room.

They walked in to find Rylie with her arm around Natalie, they were sitting on the floor, and Natalie had her knees to her chest and her forehead resting on her knees.

"What's wrong?" Lorelai's jaw dropped.

"Natalie," April said, rushing over to her friend.

"What happened?" Lorelai asked, going over to them, kneeling down next to April.

"Look at me," April said to Natalie.

When Natalie looked up, they got the full effect. Both of her eyes were black, one was swollen almost completely shut, the white of the other eye was bloody. She had large gashes on her forehead and cheek, her lip was also bloody and swollen.

"Who did this to you?" Lorelai asked.

Natalie looked hesitantly to April, who gave her a stern look in return.

"What's going on?" Lorelai asked, looking between the two girls. "What was that look?

"Tell her," April said to her friend.

Natalie began to cry even harder as her body trembled.

"Natalie, you tell her or I will," April demanded.

"Someone tell me!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"My stepdad did it," Natalie sobbed

Lorelai's mouth gaped open, unsure of what to do or say.

"I'm going to go get stuff to clean her up," Rylie offered as she got up and left.

"I'm sorry Lorelai, I promise I'm not always this big of a burden, and I wouldn't have come here last night, but I didn't know where else to go," Natalie replied.

"Sweetheart, no…you're not a burden, I want you to be able to come to me when you're having problems," Lorelai said, scooting in a little closer and pulling her into a hug. "Is this the first time he's done something like this?"

Natalie knew she couldn't lie, April wouldn't let her. "This is the first time it's been this bad, but he's hit me before."

"Natalie…" Lorelai sighed, then looked to April. "You knew about this?"

"Yeah, but I promised her I wouldn't say anything," April said quietly.

Lorelai sat back on her heels and took the girl's hand. "Do you think you can come into the office so we can get you cleaned up?"

"I don't want anyone to see me like this," she shook her head.

"We're just going into Rylie's office so we can get a better look at these cuts, I don't want them to get infected," Lorelai told her as she stood up. "Come on, I'll help you."

Natalie took Lorelai's outstretched hand and let her pull her to her feet. She saw Lorelai wince as she saw the welts up and down her legs.

"He did this too?" April asked.

Natalie nodded in response as she began crying again.

"Are those belt marks?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, he was mad because I came home too late last night," she replied as they walked into the office, Natalie's legs trembling with each step she took, Lorelai helped her sit down in one of the chairs.

"But you were at our house last night," Lorelai realized. "You left before 10 o'clock. Did you go somewhere else?"

"No, I went straight home," she replied as she shook her head.

"Here's the stuff," Rylie said as she came into the office and handed the items to Lorelai.

"Can you call the police department and have them come down here so we can file a report?" Lorelai asked Rylie.

"No, no police," Natalie said.

"Honey, I'm not just going to let him do this to you and get away with it," Lorelai replied.

"The last two times he did it, you said he'd stop, but it just got worse," April added. "You can barely walk because he beat you so badly."

"I'm just…I'm afraid that it will be like last time and it will just make it worse in the long run," she said.

"Last time?" April asked.

"The last time someone called DHS because I had marks on my arms, he told them I did it to myself, and it just made things worse at home," Natalie cried.

"Natalie, we aren't going to let anything happen to you," Lorelai told her. "I'm going to do whatever needs to be done to make sure you're safe, okay?"

"Okay," Natalie nodded tearfully.

As Lorelai tended to Natalie's wounds, an officer arrived to file a report, Lorelai recognized him as one of their county deputies. Rylie had gone back to taking care of the horses.

"Lorelai, good to see you," he said as he came in and sat down.

"You too, Phil," she smiled briefly. "This is Natalie Parker."

"May I call you Natalie?" He asked the girl, who nodded in response. "Would you mind telling me what happened?"

"Um, I was over at Lorelai's house for dinner and a little while after, I went home about 10…I don't really have a curfew because my mom and stepdad normally aren't home at night, but my stepdad happened to be home, he had been drinking, and he was angry that I was coming home so late," Natalie explained. "I argued that I didn't have to be home at a certain time, so he backhanded me, and his ring caught my cheek, I think that's how I got that cut."

"Has he done this to you before?" The officer asked.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Has he ever sexually assaulted you?"

"No, just physically."

"How long has this been going on?" He asked.

Natalie shrugged. "Not long after he married my mom, so about six years…maybe longer."

Lorelai felt the tears fill her eyes as she gently rubbed Natalie's back.

"What happened after he slapped you?" He asked.

"I told him I was leaving, he grabbed me by the arm and pushed me toward the couch, my foot caught on something, I tripped and ended up hitting my head on the coffee table," she continued as she began to cry. "When I tried to get up, he started punching me in the face, and then started hitting me with his belt."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Phil told her. "How did you get out?"

"I acted like I had passed out, so he left, I grabbed some of my things and came here to stay the night," Natalie explained.

"Why didn't you come to our house?" April asked her.

"I had planned on waking up before anyone came in this morning, and leaving town, but Rylie came in early," she told her friend.

"Does your mom know about the abuse?" Phil asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "She's seen him hit me before and hasn't done anything to help me."

"I need to take some pictures of the wounds, if you don't mind," he told her.

Natalie looked hesitantly at Lorelai.

"It's okay," Lorelai told her, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Go ahead," she replied.

"We will open an investigation, but I want you to know that your mom will be investigated as well, and there could be charges filed against her," he told her as he took the photos.

"I understand," Natalie sniffled.

"I have to call DHS to report this, and unless you have a family member to stay with, they will probably take you into their custody," the officer asked.

"She's staying with me," Lorelai spoke up.

"Lorelai, you don't have to do that," Natalie looked up at her.

"I know I don't have to, but I want to," Lorelai said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll have to make sure Luke is okay with it, but I'm sure he won't mind."

"DHS will be in contact with you since you're not family, and I know they will have to run background checks on any adults living in the home," the officer explained.

"That's not a problem," Lorelai assured him.

After the officer left, Natalie began to stand up.

"Where are you going?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm going to work," she answered.

"No you're not, you can barely walk," Lorelai shook her head. "I want you to go to our house and get some rest…April, if you want to go with her you can."

"Okay," April replied.

"I'm not taking no for an answer," Lorelai looked at Natalie. "Please go, and if you feel well enough tomorrow, you can come back to work then."

"Fine," she agreed.

"You can take the Jeep," Lorelai said, handing the keys to her stepdaughter.

After the girls left, Lorelai went into her office and called Luke.

"Luke's," he answered.

"Are you busy?" She asked nervously.

"Not too busy," he replied. "Why?"

"Do you have time to come by the Dragonfly for a few minutes?" She asked

"I think I can get away. Is everything okay?" He wondered.

"Yes and no," she answered. "Just come out here when you get a chance."

It wasn't long after they ended their call that Luke was walking through the door to her office.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"That was fast," she said, standing up to greet her husband.

"Well, when your wife asks you to come to her place of work, and doesn't give much of a reason why, it's cause for concern," he replied.

Lorelai let out a long sigh and ushered him over to the couch. Luke became nervous when she didn't begin to speak right away.

"Lorelai," he said, putting his hand on her knee.

"How would you feel about taking in another kid?" She asked, finally meeting his eyes as she took his hand in hers.

"I thought we decided to wait on making any decisions on adoption until we exhausted all of our other options," his brow furrowed as he searched her eyes for answers.

"I'm not talking about adoption…I'm talking about letting Natalie come live with us," she replied.

"Natalie?"

"Luke, her stepdad has been beating her for six years," she revealed as tears filled her eyes again. "And last night, he beat her so badly, her eye is swollen shut, she has cuts and bruises all over her face, and she has marks all up and down her legs from him hitting her with a belt."

"Oh my god," his eyes widened as he tightened his grip on her hand. "Where is she?"

"I sent her and April to the house, she was in no shape to be working, and I wanted April to be there with her," Lorelai explained.

"Did you call the police?" He asked

"Yeah, they came and took her statement," she answered. "They were going to talk to her mom and stepdad next, so we have to wait and see what happens."

"So she's obviously not going back there," Luke replied.

"Phil was the officer they sent, he had to contact DHS, so she may go into the system, but she's just a few months from turning 18, I don't see how that's fair when we could take her in, get her through her final year of high school and into college," Lorelai said. "She needs to know she deserves so much better, Luke."

"I agree," he nodded.

"Really?"

"Yeah…I mean, if she goes into foster care, she may be sent somewhere else, she could quite possibly be abused there as well," he replied. "Plus she and April have really hit it off, I think we should let her stay with us."

Lorelai threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, not saying a word before she let go a few moments later.

"What was that for?" He asked

"For having an open mind and open heart," she smiled warmly. "And for not even having to think about it because you know it's the right thing."

"You're welcome," he replied, taking her hand in his once again before leaning in to kiss her.

"I know it would be easier to just let her go into DHS custody, and I know we've only really known her a couple weeks, but she's been over at the house almost every night since then, and she already seems pretty comfortable with us," Lorelai continued.

"If it was her stepdad abusing her, why are they taking her from her mom?" Luke questioned.

"She says her mom knew and did nothing about it, so she could be facing jail time too," Lorelai replied.

Luke looked down to their hands to try to keep the tears at bay, but it didn't work. When he looked back up at her, a few had escaped and streamed down his cheeks.

"I just don't understand how a parent could do that to a child," he said in disbelief. "If anyone ever laid a hand on Rory or April, I'd probably kill them with my bare hands…I want to kill this man as it is."

"You're such a good man, Luke," she told him, cupping his cheek with her free hand and brushing away the stray tears with her thumb.

"I do have one question for you though," he admitted, putting his hand over hers on his cheek as he met her gaze.

"What?"

"You're not wanting to do this because of the fertility issues, are you?" He asked. "Because I get it, but bringing other kids into the house isn't going to fill that void."

"I know, but April's going to be leaving in a couple weeks, and it will just be us again. We have such a big house, and I feel like it's selfish to not at least fill one bedroom with someone who needs it," Lorelai explained.

"Okay," he nodded in agreement. "As long as we're on the same page."

"I mean, the specialists have all said to not focus on trying to get pregnant, so I think having someone in the house to focus on, it couldn't hurt," she added, leaning into him as he put his arm around her. "Plus, I feel like this is my chance to pay it forward…Mia took Rory and me in when we had nowhere else to go, I think it's only right that I do the same for Natalie."

Luke and Lorelai both came home early after a DHS caseworker called and asked to speak to them as well as Natalie. They wanted to talk to both of the girls before the caseworker arrived.

"So just to be clear, you're okay with her living here?" Lorelai asked April as the four of the sat around the dining room table.

"Of course," April answered.

"And Natalie, you're okay with living here?" Luke asked the other girl. "Even after April leaves to go back to New Mexico, you'll be comfortable living here with Lorelai and me?"

"Sure," she nodded. "But you don't—"

"We don't have to do this, we know," Luke said, held his hand up to stop her. "Lorelai and I both know you're a smart, hard-working kid, and you deserve the best of what life has to offer, and while we can't give you the world, we think we can help you through your last year of high school and into college."

Just then, the phone rang, Lorelai got up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Lorelai, it's Phil Walton, I thought I would let you know that we sent some officers over to the McNeal residence, and Natalie's stepfather, Scott, was there, he was drunk, and he admitted to the abuse," Phil explained. "He was arrested, now I'm sure any attorney in their right mind will convince him to take it back once he's sober, but for now he is in custody."

"What about her mom?" Lorelai asked.

"She wasn't there, but when we went back later, she was there and she admitted to knowing about it, we asked how long it had been going on, and she said it had been at least five years or so, which coincides with Natalie's statement, so she was brought in too," he told her. "So I think with them both admitting to it, along with Natalie's statement, we have a pretty decent case."

"Thanks for letting us know, the caseworker should be here soon," Lorelai replied.

"Okay, I let them know that we know you and Luke, so maybe that will give you some pull with them," Phil replied.

"I appreciate all your help, Phil," she told him before they ended their call.

"What did he say?" Natalie asked nervously as she rested her elbows on the table.

"Your mom and stepdad were both arrested today," Lorelai answered cautiously.

Natalie's hands covered her face as she began to cry. Lorelai grabbed a chair and pulled it over next to her.

"Natalie, I'm sure you have a wide range of emotions going through you right now, but it's going to be okay," she said as she put her arms around the girl.

April scooted her chair over and put a hand on Natalie's shoulder to show her support. Lorelai looked to her husband as the girl sobbed into her shoulder.

Finally, Natalie sat up, swiping at her tears.

"I just…I feel guilty that they could be going to jail because of me," she cried.

"Honey, if they go to jail, that's on them," Lorelai assured her. "Your stepdad has made the choice to abuse you for years, and your mom chose to hide it. I'm not telling you the feelings you're having are wrong, because I'm sure anyone in your position would feel the same, but you have to know that it isn't your fault."

Just then, the doorbell rang, and it was the caseworker. She spoke privately with Natalie, as well as Luke and Lorelai, confirming that they hadn't changed their minds about her being there, and also did the necessary home inspection. She also revealed that after speaking with the sheriff's office, they were able to get a judge to grant emergency custody of Natalie to Luke and Lorelai. She informed them that once their background checks came back, and they made sure Natalie's parents would be sentenced, they would more than likely have a hearing granting more permanent custody.

"My number is on that card, and if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call me," she told them as they walked her to the door.

"Thanks Rebecca," Lorelai said. "We really appreciate you getting this all expedited."

"It wasn't a problem, like I said, they spoke very highly of both of you at the sheriff's office," she replied as Luke opened the door for her.

After she left, the four of them had dinner, then Luke ran back to the diner to help close up. When he came back, Lorelai was in the living room on her laptop.

"Where are the girls?" He wondered.

"Upstairs," she answered, not looking away from the laptop.

"What's up?" He asked, going to sit next to her.

"Just looking at what the possible charges could be filed against Natalie's parents," she sighed, looking at her husband. "There are just so many laws and exceptions, so it's confusing."

"It's been a crazy day," he said as he yawned. "You ready to go to bed?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

They went upstairs to find both girls in April's room.

"Is everything okay?" Luke asked them.

"Yeah, I gave Natalie some pajamas, and I stole one of the unopened toothbrushes out of your bathroom for her, I hope that's okay," April replied.

"That's perfectly fine," Lorelai said.

"I only grabbed a few outfits and stuff, I wasn't really thinking about the long-term when I left the house last night," Natalie admitted.

"It's okay, I'll take you tomorrow to get everything you need," Lorelai replied.

"You don't have to do that, I can buy it," Natalie told her.

"I know, but I'm going to," Lorelai smiled at her. "How's that eye?"

"It hurts, but not too much," she answered, touching it lightly. "I just wish I could see out of it."

"Maybe we should have taken you to the hospital," Lorelai said as she went over to her to take a closer look.

"No, it's fine, I'm okay," Natalie waved her off.

"We're going to put you in this room right here next to April's, if that's okay with you," Luke told her. "It has its own bathroom and everything."

"Okay," she nodded.

"But if you feel more comfortable sleeping in here with April, that's fine too," Lorelai added, noting the apprehension in the girl's voice. "Just know that you have a space to call your own."

"Thank you," she said.

"We're going to bed," Luke told them.

"Okay," April said.

"Can I go to work tomorrow?" Natalie asked.

Lorelai eyed the girl for a moment. "I will let you, but you have to promise that if it becomes too much, you'll let Rylie or me know," she said.

"I promise," she agreed.

"Okay…" Lorelai walked back over to Luke in the doorway. "Goodnight you two."

"Night," both girls said.

After she changed clothes and brushed her teeth, Luke was already in bed when Lorelai climbed in beside him, snuggling into his side.

"I'm glad we're in a place where we can help her," she told him as she felt his arm tighten around her.

"Me too," he said, not meeting her gaze when she looked up at him.

"What are you thinking about?" She wondered as she reached up to touch his face.

"About how this was going on when I was her soccer team's sponsor," Luke sighed. "How did we not realize it?"

"How could we have known?" Lorelai countered.

"She was such a little spitfire," Luke let out a chuckle, remembering Natalie's younger self. "She did whatever it took to win, and whether they won or lost, she was always happy. Just to think of her dealing with all this at home and we had no clue…not once did she let it interfere with her commitment to her team."

"She's going to be okay, Luke," Lorelai said. "We'll make sure of that."

"But what if the charges don't stick?" He asked. "What if she has to go back to them?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but we're going to make sure she knows she can come to us," Lorelai said, resting her head on his chest as they fell asleep.

The next morning, Lorelai had called Rory to solidify their plans for the holiday weekend as she and the girls got out of the car at the Dragonfly. The girls waved to Lorelai as they went their separate ways.

"So before you guys decide to come visit for the 4th of July, I have to let you know that we have an extra person living here with us," Lorelai said as she walked into her office.

"Who?" Rory asked curiously.

"Her name is Natalie Parker…April may have told you about her, she used to play on the soccer team Luke used to sponsor, and now she works out in the stables," Lorelai explained.

"Oh yeah, April mentioned she was her friend," Rory said as she leaned back into her office chair. "But why is she living with you guys?"

"Her stepdad has been abusing her for the last five or six years, and he beat her so badly the other night that she couldn't see out of her left eye," she told her. "We were granted emergency custody, but I got the call this morning saying that her mom and stepdad were formally charged, and they both admitted their guilt, so we will more than likely get permanent custody."

"Wow," Rory spoke, unsure of what else to say. "Is she okay?"

"Physically, she's healing…her eye looks a whole lot better than it has, but she's an emotional wreck," Lorelai explained. "Most of the time she's happy to be out of that situation, but then sometimes she'll start missing them, or she'll feel guilty about them going to jail."

"Wait…why doesn't her mom have her?"

"She went to jail too, she's known about the abuse and did nothing to stop it," Lorelai answered.

"That's terrible," Rory said.

"I know, but we're helping her through it, and she's going to start seeing a counselor next week," she replied.

"Good, I'm glad she has you guys…I'll have to tell her she's a lucky girl to have you and Luke as her quasi-parents," Rory grinned.

"So does that mean you'll be here?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

"Yes, I am off work on Friday, so we will either be there Thursday night or Friday morning," Rory said.

"Yay, I can't wait to see you," she said with a grin.

"You just saw me not even two weeks ago," Rory reminded her.

"I know, but that's not enough, I need you here all the time," Lorelai said dramatically.

"I know, but I have to be a big kid and work at my big kid job," she replied.

"Hey, here's an idea…your parents own not one, but two successful businesses, you should work for one of them," Lorelai suggested.

"As much as I would love to see your smiling face every day, Jess and I are finally in a good place where we feel like this is where we're supposed to be, so I'd rather not rock the boat."

"Fine, fine…I've got two other children in my house at the moment that I can dote on and try to convince to live with me forever," Lorelai remembered as she looked at their occupancy for the upcoming holiday weekend on her computer.

"I'm sure they would love that," Rory replied as one of her colleagues stuck his head in her door. "Hey Mom, I've gotta get to my meeting, but I will let you know what the plan is by Tuesday or Wednesday."

"Sounds good hon, I'll talk to you soon," Lorelai replied, ending the call.

As she was going through their reservations, a name caught her eye.

"No way!" Lorelai squealed as she found the same name in her contacts and called the number.

"So I guess you found our reservation," the voice answered from the other end of the line.

"Mia!" Lorelai squealed. "How come you didn't tell me that you and Howard were coming for the 4th of July?"

"Well, we weren't 100% sure we were going to be able to make it until yesterday, I was just happy there was a room left," Mia replied.

"Well, it looks like you grabbed one of the cancellations at just the right time because we've been completely booked for over a month," Lorelai told her.

"That's wonderful, Lorelai," Mia smiled. "You don't have plans next weekend, do you?"

"No, we were going to go to the lake house in New Hampshire, but decided to stay home for the weekend, and actually Rory will be in town for the weekend, as well," she said happily.

"That's wonderful, I can't wait to see both of you," Mia replied.

* * *

 **Thoughts on what happened with Natalie? I hope you liked it! Please review :)**


	15. Chapter Fourteen

_**Hey guys! I had a few free moments, so I thought I'd get you another chapter before I leave on vacation! I'm not gonna lie, I still have a few chapters written ahead, but I have some terrible writers' block. And I'm kinda stressing out about it. Any thoughts or encouragement is greatly appreciated!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

"Mia's here!" Rory squealed as she came running out of the formal living room where she had been reading, waiting for this very moment.

Luke was preparing lunch as Lorelai sat at the bar talking to him as he finished grilling chicken on the countertop grill. She smirked as she got up from her seat.

"What?" He asked

"It's almost as if she's that ten-year-old little girl again," Lorelai shook her head as she followed her daughter to the front door.

Luke washed his hands and followed suit.

"Mia!" Rory could hardly wait for her surrogate grandmother to make it out of the car before she pulled her into a hug. "I'm so happy you're here."

"I'm so happy to be here," Mia replied with a smile as she held onto Rory tightly.

As the women reunited, Luke went to the driver's side to greet Howard. When Mia let go of Rory, she immediately pulled Lorelai into a hug.

"My sweet girl, I've missed you so," Mia said.

"I've missed you too," Lorelai replied, trying to hold back tears.

Throughout the entire fertility journey, Lorelai often turned to Mia for words of wisdom and encouragement. Mia had never experienced it herself, but she always knew the right thing to say at the right time.

Mia held onto Lorelai a few extra moments before stepping back and looking to Rory again.

"Now let me see that ring," she said to her excitedly.

Rory held her hand out for Mia to see.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Lorelai asked.

"It is…the pictures don't do it justice at all," Mia raved as she carefully examined the ring. "Jess did a good job."

"I thought so," Rory smiled.

"Have you set a date yet?" Mia asked her.

"Not yet, we've discussed waiting until later next year after Jess graduates from Columbia," Rory answered. "But no official date yet."

"I see," Mia frowned.

"Oh Mia, you'll be one of the first to know when we set a date," Rory assured her.

"Come inside, I'm sure your morning of travel has you worn out," Lorelai said.

"Well, I look forward to those comfy beds at the Dragonfly," Mia replied as they went toward the house.

Once inside, Rory went to get Jess, and Lorelai went to find the girls while Luke showed Mia and Howard to the living room.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked them.

"I'll take a water if you have it," Mia smiled up at him.

"You got it," he smiled. "Howard?"

"I'm fine, I don't need anything," the man answered.

Luke gave Mia the bottle of water, then went back to the kitchen to slice the chicken.

"We're having a strawberry poppy seed chicken salad with homemade croissants," Luke told them. "I hope that's okay."

"That sounds wonderful, Lucas," Mia replied. "We appreciate you doing lunch for us."

"It's not a problem, we love having you here," he said as Rory and Jess came into the kitchen.

"Jess, you remember Howard and Mia," Rory said, gesturing to them as they went into the living room.

"I do, it's nice to see you again," he said, shaking Howard's hand.

Before Jess had a chance, Mia had stood and was pulling him into a hug. "Jess, it's so good to see you again," she said.

"It's good to see you too," he said, obviously caught off guard.

"Congratulations on the engagement, we are just thrilled for the two of you," she said, clapping her hands together.

"Thank you," he nodded.

"Here we are," Lorelai said as she came back into the room with the girls in tow. "Mia, Howard, you remember April."

"Of course, how's New Mexico treating you, sweetheart?" Mia asked as she hugged the girl and kissed her cheek.

"It's okay, I'd like to be here with Dad and Lorelai all the time, but it's not too bad," April replied.

Lorelai put her arm around Natalie. "And this is the newest addition to the family, Natalie," she told them. "Natalie, this is Mia and her husband Howard."

"Hi sweetheart," Mia hugged the girl. "Welcome to the family…from someone who also isn't blood related, loyalty around here runs deep."

"You're lucky to have these two for bonus parents," Howard added, resting his hands on Mia's shoulders as he nodded toward Luke and Lorelai.

"Lucky doesn't even begin to describe it," Natalie smiled at them.

"If everyone is ready to eat, lunch is ready," Luke announced as he started to carry food to the dining room, where places were already set for everyone.

Late the next afternoon, Lorelai and Mia had been sitting on the back porch as Luke, Howard, and Mia's son John manned the grill and smoker while the kids played in the pool. Lorelai and Mia decided to go in to get the rest of dinner ready.

"So how are things going on the baby front?" Mia asked as she began to slice tomatoes.

"Well, we were about ready to give up after the last miscarriage, but our doctor suggested this new treatment plan, so that's been going for about a month," Lorelai answered, placing slices of cheese on a platter. "So hopefully we see some results sooner rather than later."

"Yeah, give it some time," Mia patted her hand. "Have you discussed adoption?"

"We have, and we wanted to exhaust all of our other options first, because we'd like to have a baby biologically," she told her. "Rory offered to become our surrogate…I had actually considered it, but Luke is completely against it."

"Why?"

"He's worried something will go wrong, and he said he couldn't forgive himself if something happened to her because she was carrying our baby, which I understand, I don't think I'd be able to live with myself," she admitted. "But that all happened in the same day that we decided to switch to this new plan."

"And now you've taken in Natalie," Mia said. "That's why I wondered about adoption…or officially becoming foster parents to other kids."

"We haven't really discussed it, things have been a whirlwind since Natalie came to live with us…we've had meetings with DHS, and she asked to speak to her mom, so we took her to do that, and we went to their arraignment," Lorelai explained. "But I wouldn't mind being a foster parent…I told Luke I'm finally getting to pay it forward."

"What do you mean?" Mia asked, finishing up with the tomatoes and washing her hands.

"Well, you took in Rory and me all those years ago, now I have Natalie working at the Dragonfly, and we were able to take her in when she needed us," Lorelai smiled.

"I'm so happy you were able to do that for her," Mia smiled as she pulled Lorelai into a hug.

"You'll never know how thankful I am for you, Mia," Lorelai said, still holding onto Mia. "I could never repay you for all you've given me."

Mia leaned back, cupping Lorelai's face in her hands. "I have the Gilmore girls in my life, that's repayment enough."

A stray tear slid down Lorelai's cheek. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too," Mia sighed before they went back to their tasks.

"Rory and I have been making an effort to see each other more often, I think that may need to include some visits to North Carolina, as well," Lorelai told her.

"I would love that," Mia smiled.

Natalie came into the house wrapped in her towel.

"Hey sweets, you need something?" Lorelai asked her.

"I thought I'd see if there's anything I can do to help out," she answered. "You know, earn my keep."

Mia snorted, Natalie looked at her curiously. "Sorry…it's just Lorelai used to say something like that to me," Mia said. "Always wanting to know what she could do for me."

"I don't know how much April has told you about Mia, but I showed up on the doorstep of her inn when I was 17 with a baby on my hip," Lorelai smiled. "She took us in, she gave me a job and a place to live, she made sure we never went hungry, and that we were always taken care of…and I want to be able to do that for you."

"No payback necessary," Mia added with a smile, recalling the many times she had said that to Lorelai.

"Are you sure?" Natalie asked.

"I'm sure," Lorelai assured her. "So unless you really just want to help us, get back out there with everyone else and enjoy the Fourth of July."

"Thank you Lorelai," Natalie said, coming over to hug her.

"You're welcome kid," she replied, hugging her back and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"She's a good kid," Mia said after Natalie went back outside. "You and Luke have built a beautiful life here together."

"It took long enough," Lorelai chuckled.

"No, I think the timing was perfect…you needed to get some things straight on your own before you could make it work as a team," Mia pointed out. "You realized you couldn't live without each other, that you didn't want to live without each other…I think if that hadn't happened, and you went ahead and got married in 2006, you wouldn't have been able to handle everything life has thrown your way since you've been married."

"I agree, it's just hard not to think about the what ifs, like if we had gotten married and tried to start a family earlier, would it have been easier?" She wondered.

"Maybe so, but things happen for a reason," Mia reminded her. "You and Luke are on this path together, you're dealing with this trial together, and you're going to make it through it together."

Lorelai eyed the woman for a moment before pulling her into a hug. "Can you just stay here forever?"

"Oh honey…I wish I could," Mia answered.

The next morning, per Mia's request, Lorelai and Rory joined her for breakfast in the garden at the Dragonfly while Howard joined Luke, Jess and the girls for breakfast at the house. The trio of women were enjoying their breakfast and each other's company. All three laughing hysterically over some of their best memories.

"Remember that time Rory locked you out of the shed and was too panicked to figure out how to unlock it?" Mia asked, laughing.

"Oh my gosh, and the only window that was unlocked was that tiny one over the sink," Lorelai recalled. "I didn't think my ass was going to fit through that window."

"Nonsense, I was the one pushing your ass through the window, you had plenty of room," Mia waved her off.

"We were both laughing so hard at how hysterical Rory was about being locked in the shed by herself that we could barely get me through the window," Lorelai added.

"That explains so much," Rory shook her head at the women.

"Hey, you're the one who locked the door in the first place," Lorelai pointed out, taking a bite of her pancakes.

"I was three, how was I supposed to know what it did?" Rory countered.

"And remember when the geese always used to chase you?" Lorelai asked her daughter.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I still have scars where they bit me," she said.

"And one of the groundskeepers showed you how to grab a hold of their necks until they would pass out," Lorelai laughed.

"You were so tiny out there grabbing a hold of the geese's necks," Mia giggled, causing Rory to join in on the laughter.

Mia sat quietly as she watched the girls go back and forth about various incidents. It was Lorelai who finally noticed Mia's demeanor had changed.

"Is something wrong, Mia?" She asked

"Girls, I need to tell you something," Mia said solemnly.

"What is it?" Rory asked with a nervousness in her tone.

"I have been diagnosed with breast cancer," she announced.

"What?" Rory's eyes widened.

"Mia! You went all weekend without telling us that?" Lorelai asked.

"I wanted to enjoy my time with you without having you worry about me," Mia told them, both Lorelai and Rory started to speak, but she simply held her hand up to silence them. "Don't tell me you wouldn't have, because I know you would. It's taken Howard a week and a stern talking to before he would quit treating me like I'm made of glass."

"How long have you known?" Rory asked with tears in her eyes

"About two weeks," Mia answered.

"So what's the course of treatment?" Lorelai asked.

"I go in on Thursday to have my port placed, chemo will start on Friday," she explained. "I will do four rounds of Adriamycin/Cytoxan, then start sixteen weeks of Taxol twice a week, after that, they are hoping to be able to do a lumpectomy, but they may have to do a mastectomy, and then, I will have twelve weeks of radiation."

Rory's hand went over her mouth as she looked at Mia, crying. Lorelai's hands covered her eyes as her body began to tremble. Mia pulled her chair over to Lorelai, pulling her into a hug. Lorelai's arms wrapped tightly around Mia as she sobbed into the crook of her neck. Mia held her arm out to Rory, who sat on the arm of Lorelai's chair with one arm around each of the women.

"It's going to be okay, I'm going to fight this," she assured them, now crying as well. "And I'm going to get to see you and Luke raise your babies, and see Rory and Jess get married and raise their babies, and I may even move back and have a hand in raising all those babies."

"Can you move back tomorrow?" Lorelai murmured.

Mia let out a chuckle. "I wish I could…Howard and I had talked about it, but since I have a game plan with my doctor in Raleigh, I'd rather see it through."

"Then I guess we'll have to make plans to come visit you more," Rory said as she finally sat up.

"I guess so," Mia agreed as stroked Lorelai's hair. "You okay, sweets?"

"I'm okay," Lorelai sniffled as she sat up. "I'm sorry, you shouldn't have to be drying my tears when you need to focus on getting better."

"I'm always here to dry your tears, no matter what," Mia said, placing her palm on Lorelai's cheek.

Lorelai looked at her for a moment, placing her hand over Mia's on her cheek, then taking Rory's hand in the other. "Are you scared?"

"Absolutely," Mia nodded. "But that just gives me so much more determination to beat this."

They sat there consoling each other awhile longer before heading back to the house. When Lorelai walked in, she dropped her purse in the mud room, Luke was there with open arms. Jess wasn't too far behind to do the same for Rory.

"It's going to be okay," Luke soothed as he ran his hand up and down Lorelai's back. "She's one of the strongest women I know."

Mia stepped past them to seek her husband in the kitchen, he put his arm around her as they watched Luke and Jess comfort the girls.

"That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Mia told him. "I love those girls so much…just seeing that heartbreak on their faces when I told them, it nearly killed me."

Howard pressed a kiss to her temple. "I thought Luke was going to pass out when I told him, he didn't say a word, and went upstairs for about fifteen minutes, when he came back, I could tell he had been crying."

"I knew he'd take it hard, I thought about having him there with the girls, but I know we needed that time alone," Mia explained.

"I guess we should book flights," Luke told Lorelai as they finally stepped into the kitchen with Mia and Howard a few minutes later.

"For what?" Mia asked, overhearing him.

"So we can be there for your surgery and the start of chemo," Lorelai replied.

"No, we'll be okay, John is coming in for a few days, Howard's family is there," Mia insisted. "April will be leaving next week, you're still trying to get settled with Natalie, you're trying to get pregnant, and you have businesses to run for crying out loud."

"Mia…you've always been there for us, we want to be there for you," Rory added.

Mia knew the determination in the Gilmore girls, she saw it in both of their eyes as she took them by the hand. "I'll make you a deal…after I finish my chemo and get ready to go in for the lumpectomy, you can come then, that will be around Christmas and I won't be able to come visit."

"We're not waiting until Christmas to see you again," Lorelai objected.

"Then come visit sometime between now and then, but I will not have you uprooting your lives to come to North Carolina all the time," Mia argued.

"She's right," Luke realized as he poured Lorelai a cup of coffee. "As much as you'd like to go down there, we really have too much on our plates to be taking off without a lot of planning."

"I know," Lorelai sighed, realizing it would be near impossible. "Maybe we could come visit for Labor Day."

"That sounds like a good plan," Luke nodded, looking to Rory and Jess. "Do you think you could do that? Fly down there that weekend."

"We could make that work," Rory answered, looking to Jess, who nodded.

"Sounds great," Mia smiled as she put her hands on Lorelai's shoulders. "Everything is going to be okay."

"I know," she sniffled before hugging Mia again.

Later that evening, after Rory and Jess left for home, and Mia and Howard went back to the Dragonfly, Luke and Lorelai were sitting in bed. Lorelai had her laptop and was looking up statistics on breast cancer while Luke read a book. Abruptly, Lorelai put the laptop away and looked to her husband.

"What is it?" He wondered, once he realized she was watching him.

"Are you scared?" She asked.

He swallowed hard as his eyes glistened with tears. "Yeah," he choked out.

"Babe…" Lorelai put her arms around him.

He had been so strong for her this afternoon, she knew the news was killing him, but he never showed it. He had lost his mom to cancer when he was just a kid, and Mia had filled that void in so many ways. She was his mom's best friend, and to know the disease that stole his mother away could also take Mia away from both of them, it was almost more than he could bear.

Luke rested his head on her shoulder as she allowed him to cry it out. It was quite a while before his sobs subsided.

"I know this brings back some terrible memories for you, and I wish I knew what to say to calm your fears," she told him as he sat up. "I know there have been plenty advances in modern medicine made in the last 30 years, they have a lot more research, so I think she has a good chance at beating this, we just have to be by her side as she fights this."

"We will be," he said before he leaned in to kiss her.

"I'm sorry you had to all but pick me up off the floor this afternoon when we came home, it didn't even cross my mind that it would be affecting you this much," she said.

"Taking care of you helps me deal with things, it gives me a purpose in all of this," he told her. "It's hard hearing that someone you love has cancer, but I guess it's a part of life."

"I just read that as of 2006, there were 2.5 million women living with a history of breast cancer," Lorelai told him. "That's a lot of people."

"Mia's going to be one of them," he added as he put his arm around her and the leaned against the headboard.

"It's taking everything I have to not pack up everything and move to North Carolina until she beats this," she admitted.

"I know, I wish it was feasible," he sighed.

There was a light knock on the door.

"Come in," Lorelai called out.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" April asked as she opened the door.

"Nope, have a seat," Lorelai replied, sitting up and patting the bed for her to sit. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," April nodded. "I just wanted to run something by you."

"Okay…"

"I was just wondering…what if I…do you think I could…I don't want to go back to New Mexico," April finally blurted out.

* * *

 _ **So, a bit of a cliffhanger there. Thoughts on Mia's diagnosis and how it will affect the family? How do you think Luke and Lorelai are going to react to April's revelation/request? And what will Anna have to say?**_


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Sorry it's taken so long to get this updated! Operation: Disney World (with four little girls) was a success! However, I came home from vacation with strep throat, so I was down for the count for an additional week. But the good news is, I think I managed get rid of the writer's block for the most part. I'm just trying to get back into the swing of writing. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter 15**

" _I was just wondering…what if I…do you think I could…I don't want to go back to New Mexico," April finally blurted out._

Luke and Lorelai's eyes went wide at the revelation.

"April…we'd love you have you live here with us, but you know that's not something your mom is going to go for," Luke told her.

"Can we at least talk to her about it?" April asked.

"We can try, but I know she's expecting you on that plane on Saturday," Luke said.

"Even though technically I'm not supposed to leave here until the end of the month?" She wondered.

"Yeah, but _technically_ the agreement is six weeks in the summer, and you were the one who changed the actual schedule by running away," Lorelai reminded her, April picked at a loose thread on the comforter. "I think I know what this is about…"

"What?" Luke asked.

"Do you think Natalie is going to take your place?" Lorelai questioned.

April sighed as she finally made eye contact with her stepmother. "Not that she'll take my place, but I've always wanted to get to live with you guys full time…I love Mom, but I've always had her, and as soon as I started to get my footing with Dad, she dragged me off to New Mexico, and I've never been able to be a full-time family with you guys," she explained. "I guess I'll just be a little envious that she'll get that and I won't."

"Sweetheart, you know that you always have a home here," Lorelai said, putting her hand on April's knee. "And no one could ever take your place…it's not like we're going to have a perfect little family with Natalie, we've got a long road ahead of us with her, and you've been our buffer with her. I'm not sure she's going to feel as comfortable around your dad and me without you here, so it might not be easy."

"All the more reason for me to stay," April pointed out.

"But you're starting your senior year," Luke countered. "Don't you want to finish high school there?"

"I don't really care, I'd rather be here because then I can tour the colleges I'm interested in, and I'll already be here when it's time to actually go to college," she replied.

"Well, maybe we can schedule some tours this week before you go back," he offered. "You'll be able to move wherever you want after you finish your senior year, I think you should enjoy that time you have with your mom and grandma while you can."

"But since I'll be leaving anyway, why can't it be a year early?" April disputed. "I'm beginning to think you don't really want me here at all Dad."

"You know I'd love to have you here all the time, I just know it's going to cause a big fight with your mom," he said.

"I'll call her right now and ask her," April said, grabbing Luke's phone from the nightstand and calling her mom's number.

"Luke, is everything okay? Is April okay?" She asked when she answered.

"Mom, it's me," April replied.

"Oh hi sweetheart," Anna said. "Why are you calling from your dad's phone?"

"I wanted to run something by you," she answered as she went back to picking at the loose thread on the comforter. "You know how I'm either wanting to go to MIT or Harvard or Yale…well, I thought I could possibly do my senior year here in Connecticut, and be closer to the schools so I could visit them more often when they have senior days and stuff."

"Absolutely not, you're coming back to New Mexico," Anna said firmly.

"Mom, I've barely talked to you all summer, you're busy with Grandma, you're busy with your boyfriend, and I feel like I'm going to be in the way," April argued. "And here, I have two parents who have set schedules and no major obligations other than the diner and the inn."

"You're not going to be in the way," Anna insisted. "Your dad and Lorelai have busy lives, you're right, they have the diner and the inn, but they also have that girl they took in, and they're trying to have another baby…"

"But Mom, you kept me away from Dad for twelve years, I missed out on so much with him, then once I found him, you still tried to keep me from him, and as soon as things started going smoothly, you uprooted our lives to New Mexico," April reminded her. "I'm unhappy there, all my friends want to do is drink and party, I don't have a car, so I can't go anywhere unless you're free to take me or one of my friends comes to get me, so other than school or swim team, I don't have much to do."

"April, let me talk to your dad," Anna told her sternly.

"But listen—"

"Let me talk to your dad," Anna repeated.

"She wants to talk to you," April snarled as she held the phone out of Luke.

"Go to your room while I talk to her," Luke said as he took the phone.

"Fine," she grumbled as she left.

"Anna, hey," he said.

"Did you put her up to this?" Anna asked.

"What?" He asked in disbelief. "No!"

"She's never asked about moving in with you before," Anna stated.

"She's never asked me," he replied. "We were as caught off-guard by this as you are…she came to us tonight and asked, and then insisted on calling you."

"So you think this is a bad idea?" Anna wondered.

"I don't think it's a terrible idea…Lorelai and I would love to have her here full-time, I feel like with your mother getting sicker, letting April stay here may be a viable option," Luke said, glancing to Lorelai, who smiled, assuring him that she was on board. "I mean, after your mom passes away, do you plan on staying in New Mexico?"

"I-I'm not sure…probably not, but I might," she answered.

"Even if April is here in college?" He asked.

"I don't know…you know if things weren't somewhat serious with Brent, April wouldn't have met him, but we haven't really discussed what will happen to our relationship after I'm no longer needed here," Anna admitted.

"Well, I know you've got a lot on your plate with your store and your mom, and April isn't getting the attention she would like to have, so she's been lashing out," Luke said. "With the exception of her attitude while she was grounded and one tantrum shortly thereafter, she hasn't given us any problems while she's been here."

"So you're saying you and Lorelai are the better parents?" She questioned with a snarky tone.

"That's not what I'm saying at all, I just think she's craving attention, and you don't have time to give her that attention—understandably so—and right now, Lorelai and I can provide that," Luke said. "If you think it's best that she come home, finish out her high school career in New Mexico, that's our legal agreement, and I will respect that, but think about what I said…you've had her for the last 17 years, Anna, I'd love to have at least one school year with her before she goes off to college."

"To be honest with you Luke, I've felt like I've been neglecting her for a while, I can't keep tabs on her like I should, I know some of the friends she has aren't the best influences," she confessed. "I didn't want to admit it to myself or to you, but I've been worried that bringing her out here was a mistake."

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah, and after she ran away, I was so angry, but I feel like it's my fault, I let things get out of hand around here," she said with a sigh. "So…if she will come home this week, stay here for a few weeks, I will get all of her records for school together, and she can spend her senior year in Stars Hollow."

"Thank you Anna," he said, trying not to sound too excited. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"Just don't make me regret it, okay?" She asked.

"I won't," he assured her.

They ended the call, Lorelai looked at him wide-eyed. "She gets to spend her senior year here with us," he said, throwing his arms around his wife and kissing her.

"That's great!" She grinned widely. "I can't believe she just gave in like that."

Luke explained what Anna had been saying on the phone, Lorelai kissed him again.

"Let's go tell April," he said, grabbing her hand.

Back in New York, Rory was sitting on the bed, staring off into space as Jess brushed his teeth.

"You okay?" He asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Yeah, just thinking about everything that's happened the last few days," Rory answered as Jess turned out the bathroom light and joined her in bed.

"Thinking about Mia?" He wondered as he took her hand.

"Yeah," she nodded sadly.

"Well, it's going to be a hard road, but she has Howard, and you and your mom, and I'll be here for you through all of it," he assured her.

"Can I talk to you about something?" She asked him.

"Of course."

"After Mom's last miscarriage, I talked to her and Luke about possibly being a surrogate for them," she said, taking a deep breath as she gauged his reaction. "They were against it, and then decided to go with that new fertility treatment plan, but she said they decided to give the treatment a year, and then revisit the idea of me being their surrogate."

"So why are you telling me about this now?" He wondered. "They've only been on that new plan for like a month, haven't they?"

"Yeah, but I want to keep my health in the best shape possible," she replied. "But also because my future is your future…I don't want to be committed mentally to possibly doing this for them if you're going to be against it, or if you're wanting to have kids as soon as we get married."

"Rory, no," his brow furrowed.

"No what?" She asked.

"I think if that's something you feel strongly about, you should do it," he said, pulling her into his embrace.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"You're the most selfless person I know, Rory Gilmore," he leaned back to smile at her before kissing her temple. "I think it's a great idea."

"Well, you know I have that doctor's appointment tomorrow, and it's actually for that reason, I want to get some information, and they're going to run some tests to make sure everything is in order," she replied. "That way I can be ready if Mom and Luke decide to do this."

"Do you need me to go with you?" He questioned.

"You don't have to, I know you need to go into Truncheon tomorrow," she replied, standing up to pull the covers back so they could get in bed. "I'm going into work in the morning, my appointment isn't until afternoon."

"Well if you need me to go, let me know and I'll be there," he told her as they got into bed.

"Thanks Jess," she turned out the light and leaned over to kiss him.

The next morning, Lorelai, April and Natalie walked into Luke's to find Mia and Howard already at a table.

"Good morning girls," Mia said as she hugged all three of them.

"Morning Mia," Lorelai replied, kissing the woman's cheek when she hugged her.

"How are we doing this morning?" Mia asked as they all took a seat at the table.

"Great," April answered with a smile.

"Your dad mentioned you had some news," Howard said. "But he said you should be the one to tell us what it is."

"I get to spend my senior year in Stars Hollow with Dad and Lorelai!" She exclaimed happily.

"April, that's great!" Mia's eyes widened. "How did you get your mom to agree to that?"

"Dad did," April answered as Luke approached the table, placing a coffee cup in front of Lorelai.

"Dad did what?" Luke asked as he filled his wife's cup with coffee.

"Convinced Mom to let me live with you and Lorelai," April smiled up at her dad.

"Oh yeah, she'll be going home to her mom for a few weeks, then she'll be with us until she leaves for college," Luke said proudly.

"I'm so happy for you guys," Mia said.

"Can I get some coffee?" April asked.

"Me too please," Natalie added.

"You two don't need to be drinking coffee," he barked, then looked to his wife. "This is your fault."

"I can't help that the women in our house have good taste," Lorelai smirked as Luke turned to walk off, retrieving two extra mugs for the girls, pouring them some coffee.

"So Natalie, we haven't had a chance to talk much," Mia said. "You'll be a senior this year as well, correct?"

"Yeah," she answered shyly.

"Do you plan on going to college?" Mia asked her.

"I'd really like to get a soccer scholarship to UConn, but I'd settle for Southern Connecticut State," Natalie replied.

"Luke sponsored her soccer team a few years ago, she's a natural when it comes to soccer," Lorelai raved.

"Do you know what you'd like to study?" Mia asked.

"Sport Management," Natalie replied as she took a sip of her coffee.

"What could you do with that?" She asked.

"I'd probably start out as a coach in a high school or junior high, but I'd eventually like to work up to being a coach at a university, possibly even on the pro level," Natalie explained.

"The sky's the limit," Mia smiled at her, she smiled back.

"Is soccer the only sport you play?" Howard asked her.

"Yeah, I played softball my freshman year of high school, but I didn't care for it as much as I do soccer," Natalie replied.

Mia looked to Lorelai. "Whatever will you do with an athletic child in your house?"

"Hey now, when Luke was her team's sponsor, we went to every game," Lorelai defended.

"She even had her own jersey," Natalie added.

"Are you guys ready to order?" Luke asked as he came back up to the table.

They all made their orders, and Howard turned back to Natalie.

"So what are some of your hobbies?" He asked. "Besides soccer."

"Well, I'm on the Mathletes team at school, I really love math," she explained. "I'd really like to travel, but I've never been able to, so I like to read about all the places I'd like to go."

"What's at the top of your list?" He asked.

"Spain…I have a fascination with Spanish culture, they are very passionate about soccer, and the language is just beautiful," she explained.

"Have you taken any Spanish classes?" Mia wondered.

"I'll be taking Spanish 4 this year, and I'd like to possibly minor in Spanish in college," Natalie told them.

"Well good for you," Mia smiled as she put a hand over Natalie's. "Knowing a second language will get you far in life."

"And April, you're still looking at MIT?" Howard asked.

"MIT is my top pick, but I'd be happy with Yale or Harvard, as well," April answered. "Of course, Lorelai's dad wants me to go to Yale."

"Not to mention the fact that it's a lot closer than Boston," Lorelai added.

"And you still want to do medical research something or other?" He asked.

"Yeah," she laughed at the term he used.

"What are your grades like?" Mia asked her.

"I have a 4.35 right now, so I'm hoping to maintain that at Stars Hollow High," April answered.

"Wow, that's great April," Howard said.

A little while later, Luke brought their food out and sat down to eat breakfast with them.

"Lucas, do you think you're prepared for all this?" Mia asked him.

"All what?" He asked with a furrowed brow.

"Living with three women…raising two teenagers," she answered, taking a bite of her biscuit.

"I think I'll manage, just look at how long I've put up with Lorelai," he joked, lightly elbowing Lorelai. "That has to count for something."

"Just remember that these two work with me," Lorelai pointed out. "I have the most influence over them, we can gang up on you, and you'll be wishing you had a bed in the apartment to sleep in."

"Yeah, I'm with her," Natalie nodded in agreement.

"Me too," April said, holding up her coffee mug. "Can I get some more coffee?"

"No," Luke growled.

"I'll just get it myself," April shrugged, getting up from the table.

"I'll get it," he grabbed her by the arm to stop her.

"Thank you, Daddy," April grinned.

He refilled everyone's coffee, then returned to his seat.

"We were just talking about college for these two," Mia said. "You'll get the joy of dealing with the application process times two."

"Yeah, all the stress of applying and writing essays, and the interviews," Lorelai taunted. "And then there's the waiting and the worrying and the panic attacks."

"Yeah, you're dealing with all that," Luke replied, pointing his fork in her direction.

"I don't think so, I dealt with it with Rory, you get these two," she said, pointing at April and Natalie. "All year long."

"Excuse me," Natalie said quietly as she quickly got up to go to the restroom.

"Is everything okay?" Luke asked Lorelai.

"I'm not sure," Lorelai frowned, getting up. "I'll go check on her."

When she got to the bathroom door, she knocked lightly. "Natalie, it's Lorelai, is everything okay?"

"Yeah."

Lorelai could tell she was crying by the tone of her voice. "Will you talk to me about it?" She asked. "Can I come in?"

Natalie was silent, and Lorelai waited patiently. About thirty seconds passed before she heard the lock click on the door as Natalie twisted the knob. Lorelai slowly pushed the door open, she saw the girl leaned against the sink crying and quickly pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt breakfast," she cried into Lorelai's shoulder.

"Sweetheart, it's okay, I just want you to be okay," Lorelai replied, rubbing Natalie's back. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

Natalie stepped back and swiped tears from her cheeks. Lorelai kept her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Just hearing you and Luke talk about getting April and me through the college application process," she sniffled.

"Natalie…I thought you wanted to go to college," Lorelai frowned.

"I do, that's not it though," she sighed. "You and Luke treat me like you treat Rory and April, as if I'm your own…"

"Well, we've become quite attached to you over the summer," Lorelai smiled, squeezing her shoulders lightly. "And we're going to help you in any way we can."

"But what if…" she choked back a sob.

"Honey," Lorelai pulled her back into her embrace.

"What if my parents get out of jail and I have to go back to live with them?" She cried.

"Their sentencing is the middle of next month, and you'll turn 18 on September 7th," Lorelai said as she continued to rub her back as they rocked back and forth lightly. "You have protective orders against both of them, and I really don't see DHS making you go back to live with them, but even if they do, once you turn 18, you'll be free to move out, even if they only served a short term, you'll be considered an adult before they get out."

"And then what will I do?" She asked. "I can't go to school and work enough to pay my own bills."

"You know you have a place at mine and Luke's house for as long as you like, I don't care how old you are, you're kind of stuck with us now," Lorelai told her with a smirk.

"Really?" She sniffled.

Lorelai stepped back and held onto Natalie's shoulders once again as she smiled at her. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Thank you Lorelai," she replied, hugging her once again.

After breakfast, everyone except Luke left for the Dragonfly. April and Natalie said their goodbyes to Mia and Howard before going to the stables. Howard was loading things into the car as Lorelai and Mia said their goodbyes.

"I don't want you to go," Lorelai frowned at her surrogate mother.

"I don't want to go either, but I've got to get home and get things taken care of so I can kick this cancer," Mia replied, hugging Lorelai tightly.

"I love you Mia," Lorelai said, her eyes filling with tears as she pressed a kiss to Mia's cheek.

"I love you too, sweets," Mia replied.

When Lorelai pulled away, Howard was standing next to Mia, so she hugged him too.

"You'll let me know about the surgery?" Lorelai asked Howard, holding onto both his hands.

"As soon as we find out anything, I will let you know," Howard nodded, squeezing her hands.

"And if there's anything we can do, you'll call?" She asked.

"We'll call," Mia assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"If you need me to come down there, I can use my parents' jet, I can be there in no time," she told them. "Just let me know."

"We will," Mia replied.

"We better go or we're going to miss our flight," Howard told her.

"Okay," Mia nodded.

"Let me know when you guys make it home," Lorelai said with one last quick hug. "And I'll call you on Wednesday night."

"Okay," Mia smiled at her.

They said one last goodbye before Howard and Mia got in the car. Lorelai waved as they pulled away from the Dragonfly.

Jess walked into their apartment after work that evening to find Rory sitting at the dining room table looking over some paperwork.

"Hey babe," he said, leaning in to kiss her. "How was your day?"

"It was fine," she said, kissing him briefly before focusing on the paperwork in front of her. "How was yours?"

"Also fine," he answered, noticing her noncommittal attitude. "I'm going to go change and then we can start on dinner."

"Okay," she replied, not taking her eyes from the papers on the table.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, go change and I'll tell you about it," she smiled faintly.

"Okay," he frowned before going toward their room to change.

She was being weird, so Jess decided not to push it, to let her come to him. They began dinner, and when he realized she wasn't going to talk immediately, he began to tell her about his day, and how one of the guys in the office thought it would be funny to drop a bucket of bouncy balls down the stairwell. The owner of the building didn't find it too funny.

As they sat down to eat dinner, Jess realized Rory had had her doctor's appointment that day.

"How did your appointment go?" He asked.

"It was okay," Rory nodded.

"You're acting weird," he commented. "Did you get some bad news?"

"Yes and no," she answered.

"Okay…" his brow furrowed at the ominous answer as he put down the spatula in his hand. "What does that mean? Can you not be a surrogate for your mom?"

"I probably can eventually," she said, taking a deep breath.

"Rory, what is going on?" He asked in an urgent tone. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Well, I can't be a surrogate for at least the next 8 months," she paused. "Jess…I'm pregnant."

* * *

 **Yikes! Another cliffhanger. How do you think Rory's going to handle this? What do you think Jess will have to say about the revelation? And how will Luke and Lorelai react? Some big changes have happened in this chapter, and there are even more to come. Hope you enjoyed the update, I can't wait to hear what you've thought about it.**


	17. Chapter Sixteen

_Sorry it's taken forever to get this chapter up. I started working toward my Master's Degree a couple weeks ago and things have been a little crazy. On the bright side, this is possibly the longest chapter I've written for this story so far. It's a bit of an emotional one...you'll see why. I hope you enjoy. As always, I love your feedback!_

 **Chapter 16**

When Luke came home that evening, he could smell something baking the moment he walked through the door. He immediately panicked, hoping Lorelai wasn't attempting to bake anything. Even though her cooking skills had improved, he still didn't trust her to use the oven without supervision.

As he stepped into the kitchen, he saw Natalie pulling a pan of cookies from the oven.

"Oh, it's you," he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I hope it's okay, Lorelai said I could," Natalie said in almost a panic.

"No, it's fine," he assured her. "I was just worried Lorelai had tried to make something."

"No, she said you would kill her if she attempted to make cookies," Natalie replied as she began to transfer the cookies onto a cooling rack.

"If she didn't burn the house down first," he laughed. "Do you like to cook?"

"I love to cook…I like baking more, but I do love to cook," she replied. "There wasn't much of a reason to cook at my house because I was normally the only one around to eat whatever I cook, but I still love it."

"You'll have to help me make dinner one night, or you could make dinner on your own, if you'd like," he told her.

"I'd like that," she smiled.

"What kind of cookies did you make?" He asked.

"Chocolate chip oatmeal," she told him, holding up a plate of already cooled cookies. "Want one?"

"Sure, I'll try one," he replied as he grabbed one and took a bite. "These are really good."

"Thanks."

"Does Lorelai know you put oatmeal in these?" He wondered.

"Yeah, I had to ask her where the oats were," Natalie said as she put the plate back on the counter.

"I'm surprised she didn't throw a fit," Luke chuckled as he continued to eat the cookie.

"Oh, she did, she asked why I had to ruin a perfectly good batch of chocolate chip cookies, but I just told her to trust me," she grinned.

"Is she upstairs?" He asked.

"No, she's in the backyard, I think," Natalie said.

"I'm going to go say hi to her," he replied.

Luke went out the back door and saw his wife watering their garden. He watched her proudly, thinking back to the day their specialists suggested they find a hobby to do together. Lorelai laughed when Luke suggested a garden, reminding him that she didn't have a green thumb at all and telling him the story of Babette giving her the bulbs to plant after Rory went to college.

But here it was, a flourishing garden. It mostly consisted of them both planting seeds, Lorelai watering and occasionally picking fruits, while Luke took care of the upkeep and picking the majority of the vegetables.

"Hey," he said as he crossed under the chuppah.

"Hi," she smiled as she sat the water hose down near the watermelons and came over to kiss him. "Look at the cute little watermelons! Do you think they're ready to pick yet?"

He stepped over to look at them. "Not yet, they should probably stay on the vine a little while longer."

"Mia was pretty impressed with our garden," Lorelai said happily. "She always had a garden at her house, Rory and I always loved playing hide-and-go-seek in the corn."

"She had quite the green thumb," Luke recalled, taking his pocket knife out and cutting some of the squash off the vine.

"So I took a test this afternoon, it was negative," she said.

Luke sighed, tossing the squash into a basket Lorelai had brought out with her. "Well, we didn't expect it to happen in the first month."

"I know, I think I've handled it better than I thought I would," she replied, putting her arms around his waist.

"It'll happen," he said as he put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "In time, it'll happen."

 _As they sat down to eat dinner, Jess realized Rory had had her doctor's appointment that day._

" _How did your appointment go?" He asked._

" _It was okay," Rory nodded._

" _You're acting weird," he commented. "Did you get some bad news?"_

" _Yes and no," she answered._

" _Okay…" his brow furrowed at the ominous answer. "What does that mean? Can you not be a surrogate for your mom?"_

" _I probably can eventually," she said, taking a deep breath._

" _Rory, what is going on?" He asked in a demanding tone. "Tell me what's wrong."_

" _Well, I can't be a surrogate for at least the next 8 months," she paused. "Jess…I'm pregnant."_

"Excuse me, what?" His jaw dropped.

"I'm pregnant," she repeated.

Jess blew out a long, slow breath as he leaned back in his chair. He looked up at the ceiling before lacing his fingers together and covering his eyes.

Rory was quiet, allowing him to take a few moments to himself. She had to do the same when they read her lab results.

"What are you thinking?" She finally asked, the silence becoming uncomfortable.

Jess sat up and looked at her again. "I'm thinking about how we let this happen," he answered.

"It had to have been when I was on those antibiotics back in June," Rory said. "I've always heard that they counteract your birth control, but the doctor assured me they wouldn't. It's my fault, I should have taken extra precautions."

"But if the doctor told you that, you should be able to trust him," Jess replied a little harsher than he'd planned.

"I'm sorry Jess…I really didn't mean for this to happen," she said, trying not to cry.

"Rory, no," he said, getting up from his seat and kneeling next to her as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the doctor for telling you that."

"I am too," she agreed, still fighting back the tears. "So do you not want to keep it?"

"Rory…" he said as he stood up. "I know it's unexpected, but we're getting married, we already have a life here together…I really don't think I could live with myself knowing that we created something together and then just decided to get rid of it."

"Really?" Rory squeaked, standing up so she could look him in the eye.

"Really," he replied, pulling her into his embrace. "I'm just having a hard time wrapping my mind around it…we're going to be parents."

Rory chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "We're going to be parents."

"Do you feel okay?" He asked as he placed his hands on her hips while glancing down to her flat stomach.

"I feel fine," she said. "I'm a little freaked out."

"How far along are you?" He wondered.

"They said about four weeks," she answered, going over to her purse and pulling out the ultrasound picture.

"What is this?" Jess asked, taking the picture from her.

"That little speck is the baby," she pointed out.

"We have a speck," he said, unable to form any other sentence.

"We have a speck," she repeated.

"Have you called your mom?" Jess asked.

"I can't," she answered as she burst into tears.

Jess was taken aback, but pulled her into his arms. "Why?"

"She's going to be so mad at me," Rory sobbed into the crook of his neck.

"She's not going to be mad at you," he told her.

"Yes she is," she continued to cry. "I told her I would be her surrogate when she was ready, and now I can't because I'm having my own baby."

"Rory…your mom is going to be so happy for you," Jess ran his hand up and down her back.

"She's been trying to get pregnant for the last two years, and here we are, pregnant without even trying," Rory said. "She'll hate me."

Jess couldn't help but chuckle a little. "If you haven't made her hate you in the last 24 years, I'm pretty sure she's not going to hate you now."

"This isn't funny, Jess," she stepped back and lightly backhanded his shoulder.

"You know your mom could never hate you, she may be a little sad, but once she gets over that, she's going to be thrilled, I promise," Jess assured her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Call her."

"I can't just call her," she said, stepping away from his grasp. "This isn't a phone conversation."

"Well I know you're not going to be able to keep it from her for long," Jess replied as Rory picked up her phone from the kitchen counter.

"I'm going to see if she and Luke can have dinner one night this week," Rory said as she called her mom's phone.

"Hey sweets," Lorelai said from the other end of the line.

"Hi Mom, how are you?" She asked nervously.

"I'm doing fine," Lorelai replied. "What's with the formality? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Rory answered as she looked nervously to Jess, who rested a hand on her hip. "I was going to see if you and Luke could have dinner with Jess and me one night this week?"

"Everything's fine, but you're wanting to have dinner in the middle of the week?" Lorelai questioned. "Did something happen at your appointment today?"

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about, but I'd rather tell you in person," Rory replied.

"Now you've got me worried, hon," she admitted.

"Nothing to worry about, it's just something I'd like to tell you face-to-face."

"I'm not sure we could get away to come to Manhattan before the weekend," Lorelai said. "Are you sure you can't tell me over the phone?"

"What about meeting in Stamford or Norwalk or something?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, we could probably do that," Lorelai replied. "Would tomorrow night work?"

"Yeah, tomorrow night is great," Rory said, looking to Jess who nodded in confirmation. "Just the four of us?"

"Okay, let's meet in Stamford, they have more food options," Lorelai suggested.

"Anything in particular sound good to you?" Rory asked her.

"You and Jess pick, let me know and we'll be there," Lorelai replied.

"Okay, I'll look into it and let you know," Rory said.

"Are you sure you can't tell me?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm sure, we'll talk about it tomorrow," Rory replied. "I love you Mom."

"I love you too, kid," Lorelai said before they ended their call.

Later that night, Lorelai flipped over onto her left side for what felt like the millionth time.

"Would you be still?" Luke grumbled.

"I can't help it, I can't sleep," Lorelai replied.

"Whatever Rory has to tell us, good or bad, we're going to get through it," he assured her as he rolled over to face her.

"I know, there's just so much going on right now and it scares me to think that something could be wrong with her," Lorelai admitted as Luke pulled her into him.

"If something were really wrong though, she would've told you, she wouldn't have made you wait," Luke reminded her. "This is probably just something important that she wants to tell you in person."

Lorelai sighed loudly. "You're right, I just can't help but worry…the entire summer has just been turned upside down, it's been one crazy thing after another."

"Well, maybe that means our luck is about to turn around," he said as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I hope so," she muttered as they laid there quietly for a few minutes, but she couldn't get her mind to slow down, so she started to get up.

"Where are you going?" He asked, half asleep.

"I'm going to go get some water and check on the girls," Lorelai told him.

"The girls are fine," he assured her, waking up a little more.

"I just want to see for myself," she said as she left the room.

She walked downstairs and got a glass of water, drinking the whole thing in no time. She stood there for a few moments, staring into the darkness before going back upstairs.

She quietly pushed April's door open to find the girl had kicked her duvet to the end of the bed. She carefully rearranged the covers over the girl, then pushed April's hair out of her face when she rolled over.

After watching her for a moment, Lorelai left the room, closing the door behind her. She noticed Natalie's door was slightly ajar as she silently opened it. The room was cast in a soft glow from a nightlight in the bathroom, which Natalie had requested. Lorelai smiled as Paul Anka stuck his head out from under the blankets. She carefully sat down on the edge of the bed and pet the dog's furry head.

Since the girls had been there, the dog usually manned his post in the hall in front of their rooms. But she was happy to see the four-legged family member and the newest family member had become fast friends, and he felt protective over her. Lorelai hoped whatever caused him to feel the need to comfort her, it wasn't too bad.

"See, they're both fine," Luke whispered from the doorway. "Paul Anka's got it covered."

"That he does," Lorelai smiled, giving the dog one last pat on the head before getting up and crossing the room to her husband, hugging him as they watched Natalie sleep for a few more seconds.

"Let's go back to bed," he said as he pulled the door closed, leaving enough room for Paul Anka to get out if he wished. "The girls are fine, the dog's fine, Rory and Jess are fine…worrying is going to get us nowhere, so we might as well get some sleep."

"I'll try," she sighed as they went back to their room.

After a night of fitful sleep, Lorelai came dragging into the diner behind the girls. They took their seats at a table as Luke brought the three of them coffee.

"Morning," he grumbled.

"You're cranky," Natalie noted.

"Well, if Lorelai wouldn't have tossed and turned all night, I could have slept a little better," Luke said, before walking away to put the coffee pot back in its place.

"Why did you toss and turn all night?" April frowned.

"I just worry too much," Lorelai replied, resting her elbows on the table and her chin on her fists.

"About Rory?" April asked.

"Yeah, and when I start worrying about her, I worry about you guys," Lorelai admitted.

"Why?" Natalie asked.

"Because she's crazy," Luke said as he reappeared at their table. "What do you want for breakfast?"

They made their orders and Luke went into the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.

"So you guys are good with helping Cesar close tonight, right?" Lorelai asked the girls, who nodded in accordance. "Great, then we will leave the Dragonfly around 4, which will give you a couple hours at home before coming back here."

Jess was packing lunches for himself and Rory when she came walking out of their room.

"So I'll be at your office around 5, then we can head to the train station together," he said.

"Sounds good," Rory smiled at him. "Do I look okay?"

"You look beautiful," Jess gave her a quick peck on the lips before going back to the task at hand.

"You're obligated to say that," she smiled at him as she walked over to the coffee pot, pouring herself another cup as she let out an audible yawn.

"You sure you're okay to go to work today?" Jess asked. "I felt you tossing and turning all night."

"Yeah, sorry…between the thought of us being parents, and telling my mom and Luke, I'm a little on edge," she admitted, sipping her coffee. "I hope I didn't keep you up all night."

"No, I was actually awake a lot last night too, but since I never felt you get up, I figured you were just tossing and turning in your sleep," he replied.

"I think I was, but it felt like I was awake a lot," she said.

"Well, hopefully after we tell your mom and Luke, you can sleep a little better," he finished putting their lunches into their respective bags.

"Unless she disowns me," Rory frowned as she stared into her cup of coffee.

"It's going to be fine," he said as he put his hand on her elbow and the other on her waist. "Even if she's upset a little at first, she'll come around and she'll be happy."

"I hope so," she sighed.

"We better get to work," he kissed her forehead before going to get his shoes.

That evening as they rode the train toward Stamford, they both had been reading, but when Jess took a break and reached for his water bottle, he noticed Rory staring out the window. When she felt him move, she turned to look at him.

"Do you think we'll be good parents?" She asked.

"I hope so," he nodded, taking a drink of his water before reaching over to squeeze her hand. "Rory, I know I had a rough childhood, but I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure this kid has the best life possible."

"You think I'll be a good mom?" She asked, looking at him hesitantly.

"You learned from the best, didn't you?" Jess countered with a grin.

"I'll never be able to live up to Lorelai Gilmore," she replied.

"You are Lorelai Gilmore, you got this," he pointed out.

Rory's phone began to ring, she saw it was her mom and answered.

"Hey Mom," she said cheerfully.

"Hey sweets, you on your way?" She asked.

"Yeah, are you?"

"Yeah, we just left about 20 minutes ago, so we may be a few minutes late getting to the train station," Lorelai said.

"Okay, we'll be waiting for you," Rory replied.

"Did you decide where we're eating?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah, but I thought I'd wait to tell you until you picked us up because I want to see the look on Luke's face when I tell him," Rory told her.

"Uh oh, is he going to hate it?" Lorelai asked, looking over to her husband, who glanced at her wearily.

"No, he won't…it's just going to be funny," Rory answered.

"Okay, well I'll see you when we get there," she told her.

"Okay, see you soon," Rory said before hanging up and looking to Jess with a frown. "I feel sick."

"Sick how? Like you're gonna throw up?" He asked, putting his hand on her back protectively.

"No, just anxious sick," she answered as she took a few deep breaths.

"It's going to be okay," he said, rubbing his hand up and down her back as she leaned into him.

When Luke pulled the SUV up to the curb, Rory and Jess got in the backseat. Rory leaned forward and half-hugged her mom.

"Where are we going?" Luke asked.

"I want to go to Post Road Diner," Rory replied with a grin.

"A diner?" Luke shot her a look.

"Yeah, I hear they have the best pancakes in the state," Rory countered, sticking out her bottom lip a little.

"We're not going to a diner," he said, trying not to give in to her pout.

"I'm just kidding," she laughed, sitting back in her seat. "We decided on Casa Villa, it's not very far from here."

Lorelai and Jess joined in the laughter, and Luke tried to hide his amusement as he found the restaurant on the SUV's navigation system and they were on their way.

"So what do you have to tell us?" Lorelai asked as she looked anxiously at her daughter.

"I'll tell you when we get to the restaurant," she answered.

A few minutes later, Luke was pulling up in front of the restaurant.

"Now will you tell us?" Lorelai asked hopefully as they got out of the vehicle.

"You need to learn to have some patience," Luke said, putting his arm around her.

"I think if I haven't learned to have some patience thus far, it's not going to happen," she pointed out.

After they placed their order, Lorelai looked across the table to her daughter expectantly.

"So…I went to my appointment with my OBGYN yesterday, just to make sure everything was good, and to get a general idea of what it would take to become a surrogate," Rory began.

"Wait," Luke interjected. "If this is going to get awkward, I don't want to hear it."

"It's not," Rory assured him.

"Continue," he nodded.

"So they ran a blood panel just to make sure things were as they should be…" she paused and looked to Jess, he squeezed her hand encouragingly. "And I found out that I can't be a surrogate for the foreseeable future."

"Rory, that's okay…we hadn't decided if that would be an option for us," Lorelai reached over and took her other hand. "But what's wrong? Can you not get pregnant at all?"

Rory hesitated. "Well, I could probably be your surrogate in about a year or so, but I can't right now, because I'm already pregnant."

Lorelai and Luke's eyes went wide. Lorelai attempted to hide the painful look that flashed across her face, but Rory had honed in on her and caught it immediately.

"I'm so sorry Mom," Rory's voice wavered, ducking her head shame. "I didn't mean for it to happen this way."

"Hon, no…don't apologize, I'm happy for both of you," she said, glancing to Jess as she continued to hold Rory's hand.

"No, I saw that look, I know you're mad at me, and I deserve to have you mad at me," Rory replied with tears in her eyes. "I get your hopes up, only to mess up and make it to where I can't be your surrogate."

"Rory," Lorelai's eyes glistened with tears. "You know that we were going to give this treatment a minimum of six months…even then, I can't guarantee you that we would've gone the surrogacy route."

"Your mom's right," Luke chimed in. "You didn't mess anything up, I have been completely against you being a surrogate since the moment you suggested it, so like your mom said, it may not have ever come to fruition anyway."

"Rory listen to me," Lorelai began. "Of course I'm a little sad and pretty jealous, but I get that way every time I hear someone say they're pregnant or see someone with a new baby, it has nothing to do with the fact that it's you. I love you so much and I really am so happy for the two of you."

"Really?" Rory squeaked.

"Really," Lorelai said, lifting Rory's hand up and kissing it. "My baby's having a baby."

"Yeah…I'm pretty freaked out by it," Rory admitted, taking the tissue Jess offered her and began dabbing her eyes.

"I'm just happy it was this and not something else," Luke admitted.

"Like what?" Rory asked.

"I don't know, when your kid calls and says she needs to tell you something in person and wants to meet as soon as possible, it freaks you out a little," Luke explained.

"So how did this happen?" Lorelai asked. "Since we know it wasn't planned."

"On that note, I'm going to the restroom," Luke said uncomfortably.

"Stop it," Lorelai told him as she grabbed his arm to stop him from getting up.

"Lorelai, I know you're pretty open when it comes to talking about these things, but Rory is our daughter and I really don't want to know the specifics of how she got pregnant," Luke said. "And I really do need to go to the restroom."

"Fine," Lorelai sighed, letting him go.

"I'll be right back," he said.

Lorelai looked back to her daughter. "I know you're normally extremely careful, so what happened?"

"I was taking antibiotics for a sinus infection last month and the doctor assured me it wouldn't counteract my birth control," she explained. "And well, it did."

"Are you having any symptoms?" Lorelai asked

"No, I wouldn't have had a clue if I hadn't gone to the doctor yesterday," Rory answered, remembering she had the ultrasound picture in her purse, so she dug it out and handed it to Lorelai. "Our little speck."

"Rory," Lorelai gasped as she stared at the picture for a few moments. "How far along are you?"

"They said four weeks," Rory answered.

"Jess, how do you feel about all this?" Lorelai asked her soon-to-be son-in-law.

"I was shocked when she told me, now I'm just anxious," Jess said, taking a sip of his water.

"About what?" Luke asked as he returned to the table.

"About us being parents," Jess answered. "We may end up having to send our kid to come live with Grandma and Grandpa."

"Oh no…no, no," Lorelai shook her finger at him. "We're not going there…I'm far too young to be anyone's 'Grandma.'"

"Don't you think Grandma said the same thing when you told her you were pregnant with me?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, but that's Emily Gilmore, she was never hip enough to come up with another name for you to call her," Lorelai argued. "I, on the other hand, am far too hip to be called 'Grandma,' so I will come up with something else."

"If you say so," Rory shrugged.

Lorelai handed Luke the image from the ultrasound. He stared at it with a smile on his face.

"You're both going to be great parents," he told them.

"We're going to try," Rory smiled at him.

"And your kid can call me whatever it wants to call me," Luke said, handing the picture back to her.

"What about–" Jess began.

"Within reason," Luke interjected, knowing Jess had a smartass suggestion.

"How will this affect the wedding planning?" Lorelai asked. "I know you haven't picked a date yet, but do you think you'll try to get married before the baby is born?"

Rory looked at Jess, unsure. "Um, we haven't really discussed it yet."

"I'm fine with whatever you want to do," Jess told her.

Tears formed in Rory's eyes again, Lorelai grew concerned. "Babe, what's wrong?"

"I just—I'd like to wait until after because I don't want to be worrying about my dress fitting," she explained. "But I want Mia to be able to be there."

"Well, hopefully by the time the baby gets here, she'll be on the road to recovery and she'll be able to be here," Lorelai replied. "She may not be able to travel up here before then."

Lorelai knew what Rory was thinking, that Mia may not survive her battle with cancer. Luke saw the fear in their eyes.

"She's going to make it and she's going to be at your wedding," Luke assured Rory.

"I want to wait," Rory decided.

"Then we wait," Jess agreed with a nod.

They continued talking and enjoying each other's company while they ate dinner. Staying a little longer than they had planned.

When Luke pulled up in front of the station, they all got out to say their goodbyes.

"Congratulations," Luke said as he pulled Jess into a hug.

"Thanks Luke," Jess replied. "It means a lot to have yours and Lorelai's support."

"Well, you've got it, whatever you need," Luke said.

"Let me know when you get home," Rory told her mom.

"You too," she said as she hugged her. "And keep me updated on all things baby."

"Are you sure?" Rory asked.

"I'm sure," Lorelai assured her. "I want to know everything."

"Okay," Rory grinned. "I love you Mom."

"I love you too, sweets," Lorelai said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

The train ride home for Rory and Jess was a quiet one. When they stepped into their apartment, Rory looked to Jess and smiled.

"I feel better about things now," she told him.

"Good, I'm glad," he said, pulling her into his arms.

"We're having a baby," she said happily, putting her hands on his cheeks and kissing him.

Luke and Lorelai's drive home hadn't been much different than Jess and Rory's. When they came up the stairs, the house was quiet, April's bedroom door was open and the light was on. Lorelai stuck her head into her room to find her reading in bed.

"Hey kid, did you guys do okay tonight?" She asked her.

"Yeah, it was a long day, we just got home about half an hour ago, Natalie took a shower and went straight to bed," April said. "I was just about to turn out the lights."

"Thanks for doing that for us," Luke said.

"Is everything okay with Rory and Jess?" She asked.

"Well…it looks like you're going to be an aunt before you're a big sister," Lorelai said with a smile.

"Seriously?" April squealed. "Rory's pregnant?"

"Rory's pregnant," Luke confirmed.

"I'm so excited," she smiled.

"So are we," Luke said, noticing Lorelai had gone quiet. "It's late, you better get some sleep."

"Okay," she replied. "Will you turn out the light?"

"Sure," he said, flipping off the light as they left the room. "Night kid."

"Night."

As soon as they were in their room and Luke had closed the door, Lorelai's hands covered her face as she turned to Luke and began to sob into his chest. His arms instinctively went around her as he began to cry too. Her arms went around his waist as her body trembled.

While he knew they were both happy for Rory and Jess, he also knew how much it pained Lorelai, because it pained him to. They wanted a child together more than anything, and to know Rory and Jess got pregnant without even trying, it stung a little.

Luke was unsure how long they stood there, but he was almost certain that Lorelai was letting out every tear she had held in from the moment Rory told them she was pregnant.

"It's not fair," she murmured against his chest.

"I know," he agreed.

"She wasn't even trying, and she got pregnant," Lorelai said as she looked up at Luke.

"I know, but she and Jess are quite a bit younger than we are," he reminded her.

"Only 16 years," she countered.

"Sixteen years make a lot of difference when it comes to the reproductive system," he said, rubbing her back.

"It just makes me want to give up," she admitted as she pressed her cheek against his chest. "I feel like it's never going to happen."

"It will, this new treatment is going to work, I just have a good feeling about it, we just have to give it some time," he told her as they swayed back and forth.

"I hate feeling like this toward my own daughter," she sniffled, finally loosening her grip on Luke. "I don't like feeling angry."

"I don't think it's really towards her as much as it is the situation," he said as he pushed back the hair from her face. "But hey, maybe we can just kidnap her baby once it's born and convince her that her pregnancy was all a dream."

Lorelai snorted. "You've obviously never been in labor…that kind of pain is not something you dream."

"I got you to smile though," he grinned at her.

"I love you, Luke," she put her arms around his neck.

"I love _you_ ," he replied, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

_Yikes! Has it really been 40 days since I last updated? My apologies! I really didn't mean to let the time get away from me like that. My classes were cause for a majority of that, and the fact that my sister's four kids whom I've helped raise all have September birthdays, so it was a busy month to say the least. I have a break from school this week before starting back up next week, but I'm hoping to not let Sweetest Devotion fall to the wayside as much as before._

 **Chapter 17**

"Well, I guess we'll see you back here in a few weeks," Lorelai said as they got to the security checkpoint at the airport.

"August 3rd," April smiled, but shrugged her shoulders.

"Call us when you get to Albuquerque?" Luke asked as he hugged his daughter.

"Of course," she nodded.

"Hurry back," Natalie said as the two of them hugged.

"Don't let these two drive you crazy," April replied, pointing between Luke and Lorelai.

"Oh I won't," Natalie assured her with a grin, glancing back to the adults.

"If you need to talk, I'm only a text or a phone call away," April reminded her

"Thanks April," Natalie smiled.

"Make sure you give Calamity some extra attention for me," April said.

"I will," Natalie assured her.

"I love you, have a safe flight," Lorelai said as she hugged her stepdaughter tightly and kissed the top of her head.

"Love you too," April replied.

"Love you kid," he said as he also hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

"Love you too, Dad."

April said her final goodbyes before getting in line for security. She turned to wave at them one last time before she disappeared into the terminal.

"Anywhere else we need to go before we head back to the Hollow?" Luke asked.

"Can we go get snow cones?" Natalie wondered.

"Of course," he answered as they turned to leave the airport.

When they pulled up to the snow cone stand in the grocery store parking lot, Natalie excitedly jumped out of the car.

"What kind are you getting?" Lorelai asked the girl as she looked at the large list of flavors.

"Watermelon with Crybaby," Natalie answered.

"What's Crybaby?" Lorelai let out a laugh.

"They spray it on the snow cone to make it really sour," Natalie told her.

"Like the gumballs?" Lorelai asked

"Exactly."

"I think I'm going to get a Waikiki Sunrise," Lorelai said.

"Solid choice," Natalie commended, then looked to Luke. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm not getting one," Luke said.

"Luke, this is one of the best snow cone stands I've ever been to, you have to get one," she told him.

"Fine…" he let out a sigh, putting his hands on his hips. "You pick for me."

"Cotton candy it is!" She said happily as she went up to the window to order.

"Can we get a watermelon with Crybaby, a Waikiki Sunrise, and a cotton candy," she said.

"Pink or blue cotton candy?" The girl at the window asked.

"Blue," Luke said quickly as he pulled out his wallet.

"I'll get it, I dragged you here," Natalie offered.

"Nope, I'm paying," Luke said, handing the money into the window.

"Thanks Luke," she said gratefully.

"Anytime kid," he smiled at her as her took his change.

A few minutes later, they had their snow cones in hand and were sitting in the SUV eating them.

"When do you start soccer practice?" Lorelai asked the girl. "I know it's on my calendar at work, but I couldn't remember what day."

"Tuesday," Natalie said.

"And when's your first game?" Luke wondered.

"September 8th, I think," she replied. "I have a schedule at the house."

"Stick it on the fridge, that way Luke and I will know when you have games so we can be there," Lorelai told her.

"You don't have to come to my games," she shook her head.

"But we want to," Luke added.

"Yeah, I want a Stars Hollow Soccer shirt," Lorelai added excitedly. "We're going to embarrass the heck out of you."

"Please don't," Natalie said in a serious tone

While she pretended she didn't want that, Natalie would be ecstatic to have someone embarrass her at her games, because that also meant someone would be there to cheer her on.

"Oh yeah, I want one of those foam fingers with you jersey number on it," Luke added as he laughed.

"Wait…Luke, smile," Natalie said as she leaned into the front seat.

When Luke smiled, Natalie and Lorelai saw that his lips and teeth were blue, and they went into a giggling fit.

"What?" He asked as he looked in the rear view mirror. "Ah geez."

Lorelai and Natalie continued to laugh hysterically.

"You look like you ate a Smurf," Lorelai said through her laughter.

Their laughter was contagious and Luke couldn't help but join in. He was just happy Lorelai was smiling again, after the last few days of tears.

"Never again am I getting a blue snow cone," he announced.

"Aww, I think it's a good look on you," Lorelai grinned as Natalie continued to giggle in the backseat.

Later that evening, Lorelai appeared in the doorway of Natalie's room, knocking lightly on the door frame.

"Dinner should be ready in about 10 minutes, Luke's making chicken enchiladas," she told her.

"Okay, I'll be down in a few minutes," Natalie replied as she pressed on the top and bottom of her shoe at the toe. "I'm trying to glue the sole of my cleat back together."

"What happened to it?"

"Oh, they're just old, I've had them since freshman year," she explained. "I had to get a new pair for high school soccer, but Coach Jenkins knew I couldn't afford a pair every year, so she let me keep these, I got them glued back together last spring, but they've come apart even more since then, so I need to get them fixed since I start practice in three days."

"Luke may have something to fix that, I'll go check," she said as she quickly exited the room in an attempt to hide her tears.

When she got back into the kitchen, Luke was putting the rice into a serving dish.

"Hey, you think Natalie would want to help me make something for dessert?" He asked as he looked up.

"I bet she would," Lorelai replied with a sniffle.

"What's wrong?" He asked, immediately at her side when he noticed her tears.

"Her shoes are broken," she answered simply.

"I'm gonna need more than that," he tilted his head in confusion.

"Her shoes…her soccer shoes—"

"Her soccer cleats," he said, putting an arm around her waist. "They're broken?"

Lorelai wiped the tears from her cheeks, not wanting Natalie to come downstairs to find her crying.

"She's been playing soccer in the same cleats since she was a freshman," she said quietly. "They're falling apart, she was up there trying to glue them back together."

Now he understood, it was the look of heartbreak on his wife's face.

"Then we'll get her a new pair," he said, kissing her forehead as he gave her waist a squeeze.

"You don't mind?" She asked.

"Of course not, she needs shoes, she gets shoes," he shrugged as he checked on the enchiladas in the oven. "And whatever else she needs…we can go to the sporting goods store tomorrow."

"You're the best," she grinned at him, watching him take the dish out of the oven.

Natalie came down the stairs a few minutes later as Luke and Lorelai were putting the food on the table. They sat down, Luke looked to Lorelai and smiled.

"Lorelai told me your cleats are falling apart," Luke said to Natalie, passing the rice to her.

"Yeah, I had some stuff in my bag that I use when they start doing that, so I got them back together as best as I could," she replied. "Do you have something that might help?"

"Yeah, it's called new cleats…we're going to the sporting goods store tomorrow," Luke replied.

"No, you don't need to do that, I think I can make these last until the spring and then if I get a scholarship for college, that will cover cleats for college soccer," Natalie replied.

"No, because if you get injured because of your shoes being broken, I won't forgive myself," Luke argued. "We're going tomorrow…whatever you need, we'll get it."

"Thank you," she said gratefully as they began to eat.

The next day, they made their way to the shoe department of a large sporting goods store.

"Oh, look at that skirt!" Lorelai exclaimed as they walked through women's clothing.

"That's a tennis skirt, you don't play tennis," Luke reminded her.

"I might if I had that skirt," she retorted.

"No, you wouldn't," he said honestly.

"I would too, we could play tennis together," she continued to argue.

"We're here to buy cleats," he replied.

"You're no fun," she said with a frown.

"Here they are," Natalie said as she got to the aisle with the soccer cleats.

After looking for a moment, Natalie reached for a shoe, Lorelai quickly noticed it was the cheapest soccer cleat they offered.

"What about these?" Lorelai suggested, pointing out a flashy pair of Nikes.

"Those are too expensive," Natalie shook her head.

"Natalie, we've seen you play…you need a pair of shoes that will last, even if you get new cleats in college, you can use these for practice," Luke pointed out. "Get the pair of shoes you want, the price doesn't matter."

"These are even Stars Hollow school colors," Lorelai nodded animatedly.

Natalie let out a sigh and looked at some of the more expensive shoes, eventually grabbing one that Lorelai had pointed out. After trying them and a few other pairs on, she decided to go with the ones Lorelai had picked out.

"Now, we need some practice equipment for the house," Luke said as he started for the soccer section of the store.

"Wait, what kind of practice equipment?" Natalie stopped him.

"Some soccer balls, maybe a goal, whatever else you need," he shrugged his shoulders.

"You don't have to do that, I can go to the school for all that," Natalie said.

"I know, but this way you can practice whenever you want," Luke told her.

"Natalie, I'm sure April has told you that Luke likes to spoil the women in his life, and with the exception of April being on the swim team in junior high, you're the only athletic person in the family, let him enjoy getting to buy sports-related stuff," Lorelai said, resting her arm casually on the girl's shoulder.

She let out a sigh. "Okay."

"Thanks kid," Luke smiled as he squeezed her other shoulder.

Natalie continued on to the soccer equipment. Lorelai winked at Luke with a smile.

"You love having a sporty kid, huh?" She asked him.

"Oh yeah," Luke grinned as they followed Natalie through the store.

Two days later, Sookie came up to the reception desk where Lorelai was working.

"Is everything okay?" She asked her friend. "I've barely seen you all day."

"Yeah, I was dealing with check-outs this morning, and then I'm trying to get some of this stuff sorted out for Michel before I have to leave to take Natalie to soccer practice," Lorelai explained.

"Soccer practice…" Sookie said dreamily. "You're a soccer mom now."

"I guess I am," she smiled widely as the realization hit her.

"How are things going with just Natalie here now?" Sookie asked.

"They're going well, she seems to have adjusted to being with just Luke and me," she told her. "We went and bought everything she would need for soccer…Luke may have gone a little overboard, he bought her a few soccer balls and a goal for the backyard."

"Well yeah, he finally has someone around who is interested in sports, he has to overindulge somewhat," Sookie said. "I should send Davey to your house, I've been trying to talk him into playing soccer, but he doesn't seem interested."

"Well, if anyone can make it interesting, it's Natalie," Lorelai nodded.

"So you and Luke have been pretty busy this summer," Sookie said nonchalantly.

"We have, between rearranging schedules for April, and taking Natalie in, we haven't had time for much else," she replied, focusing on moving files on the computer from one folder to another.

"Like a little baby-making?" She grinned curiously.

"Sookie!" Lorelai exclaimed, then lowered her voice. "Of course we've had time for that, it would be a waste of money to be going through all these treatments and then not even try."

"I know, I just wanted to make sure it hadn't taken a back seat to your busy summer," she replied.

"It hasn't…I'm hoping our busy schedule has helped the process along somewhat, since we haven't had as much time to obsess over getting pregnant," Lorelai admitted.

"You're going to have a full house once you have a baby," Sookie said excitedly.

A voice came over the two-way radio Lorelai had sitting at the desk. "Lorelai, it's Rylie, are you there?"

"I'm here, Rylie," Lorelai replied into the radio.

"I need you to get down to where the horse trail meets the footbridge," Rylie said.

"Why, what's wrong?" Lorelai asked as she and Sookie exchanged panicked glances.

"It's Natalie—"

Lorelai took off out the front door of the inn before Rylie could even finish her sentence. Sookie took off after her, both of them jumping in the golf cart, taking off to toward the nature trail.

"Rylie, I'm on my way," she told her.

Once they got close enough, Lorelai could see the six horses near the water, while Rylie was hovered over Natalie, who she had lying on the ground. Four of the Dragonfly guests were standing nearby, unsure of what to do. She parked the cart far enough away so she wouldn't spook the horses.

"What happened?" Lorelai asked, rushing from the cart over to the girl, kneeling down in the dirt next to her.

"She was on Thor, I guess he got spooked, because he reared back and when he did, Natalie got bucked off," Rylie explained. "I think she landed on her arm."

"How are you feeling?" Lorelai asked the girl.

"My wrist hurts and my head," she admitted.

"Yeah, you may have a concussion," Lorelai told her. "Let me see the arm."

Natalie had been holding her right hand over her left wrist against her chest, when she lifted the injured arm up, it was obvious it was broken. Lorelai let out a gasp.

"Yeah, we have to get you to the hospital, that needs to be x-rayed," she told the girl.

"But what about the guests?" She argued. "And Thor?"

"I will take care of the guests, and I will get Thor back to the stables," Rylie assured her. "You need to have your head and arm looked at."

"Thanks Rylie," Lorelai said, then stood up and looked to their guests. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience everyone, you're going to be short a guide for the rest of your ride, but I can assure you that Rylie will take care of you."

"Is she going to be okay?" The woman asked with her arm around her small son.

"Yeah, she's one of the toughest kids I know, she'll be fine," Lorelai replied, then turned back to Natalie, helping her up off the ground as Thor walked up to them.

"It's okay, bud," Natalie said as the horse nuzzled her cheek, she rubbed his neck. "I know you didn't mean to."

"Lorelai, do you need to call her parents?" One of the guests asked. "I have my phone."

"She's mine," Lorelai replied as she and Natalie exchanged knowing glances. "But thank you."

"Oh, okay, no problem," he replied.

Natalie kissed Thor's nose before they walked back to the cart. Lorelai sat with her arm around the girl in the back of the cart as Sookie drove back to the inn.

"Now DHS is going to think I'm abusing you," Lorelai said, half joking.

A look of panic came over Natalie's face. "Are they going to take me from you?"

"Honey, no...you had plenty of witnesses, the Kellers have stayed with us multiple times, if we need them to verify, I'm sure they will," Lorelai assured her.

"And I was with Lorelai at the front desk when it happened," Sookie added from the front seat.

"Why didn't you have your helmet on?" Lorelai asked.

"I did, Rylie just took it off after I fell," Natalie said.

"Good," Lorelai rubbed her hand nervously up and down Natalie's arm.

"Oh no!" Natalie cried.

"What?" Lorelai asked, panicking at Natalie's outburst.

"I'm gonna miss soccer practice!" She exclaimed.

"Sweetheart, it's okay, we'll call your coach, I'm sure she'll understand," Lorelai assured her, pulling her phone from her pocket. "I need to call Luke."

"Will I still be able to play with a cast on my arm?" She wondered.

"We'll ask the doctor when we get there," Lorelai assured her as she dialed the number at the diner.

"Luke's."

"Luke, it's me, I need you to do me a favor," she said. "I think Natalie broke her arm, we're—"

"Broke her arm? How?" He asked.

"She fell off a horse," Lorelai answered.

"You need to take her to the hospital," Luke said before Lorelai could continue.

"That's what I'm calling to tell you, we're heading to the hospital, but I need you to run by the house and get the paperwork that shows we can get her medical treatment," Lorelai told him.

"Okay, I'll go get it and I'll meet you at the hospital," he said.

"Thanks Luke, love you," she replied.

"Love you too," he said before hanging up.

They got back to the inn and Lorelai helped the girl into the Jeep as Michel pulled into the employee parking lot.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.

"Natalie broke her arm, I'm taking her to the hospital," Lorelai said. "I didn't get everything sorted out, Michel. I'm sorry, but I'll try to come back later and finish."

"Don't worry about it, I'll figure it out," he offered.

"Thanks Michel, if you have any questions, just text me," Lorelai replied, then looked to Sookie. "Thanks for driving us back."

"No problem, let me know what they say," Sookie said.

"I will," Lorelai replied before closing her door and driving off.

Luckily, with it being the middle of the day, the emergency room was almost empty and they were in a room quickly. It wasn't long before there was a knock on the door and Luke entered the room.

"Here are the papers," Luke said, handing them to Lorelai.

"Thanks," Lorelai replied as he rubbed her shoulder and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm going to go give them to the nurse."

Luke turned to Natalie when Lorelai walked out of the room. "How are you feeling?" He asked her.

"My wrist hurts, so does my head," she answered.

"Did you not have your riding helmet on?" He asked as he sat down in the chair Lorelai vacated.

"Yeah, but I landed pretty hard," Natalie told him.

"So no soccer practice today," he realized aloud.

"Nope, I called Coach Jenkins on the way here," she replied. "They can do a certain type of cast that is allowed in soccer, so I'm hoping they can do that here."

"I'm sure they can," he assured her.

Lorelai re-entered the room. "Okay, we are all set, the nurse said someone will be here shortly to take you to radiology."

"Okay," she said.

"Have you ever had x-rays before?" Lorelai asked her.

"Yeah," she nodded as she looked down at her lap, when she looked back up she had tears in her eyes.

"Oh hon," Lorelai said, going over and putting an arm around her shoulders.

"A couple years ago, my stepdad dislocated my shoulder," she explained. "They did x-rays to make sure it wasn't broken."

"Was that when they were investigated by DHS?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "But my mom made me tell them it happened at soccer practice, she told me if I didn't, she would kick me out of the house."

"Natalie, I wish we had known," Lorelai said as she squeezed the girl's shoulder.

"It's okay…what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?" She offered, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"Did that happen today?" Lorelai asked, noticing the crack on the screen.

"Part of it, some of it happened the night I left my parents'," Natalie told her. "It still works though."

There was a knock on the door before a woman in scrubs came in.

"Natalie?" She asked.

"That's me," Natalie said.

"Date of birth?"

"Nine-seven-ninety-two," Natalie answered.

"Awesome, I'm Mikayla, I'm going to take you to radiology, it looks like we're doing x-rays of your left wrist and a head CT," she said, reading the chart.

"Guess so," Natalie shrugged.

The woman pulled a wheelchair into the room and Natalie got in it.

"Mom, Dad, you can walk down there with us, but you'll have to wait in the hall once we get there," Mikayla told Luke and Lorelai.

None of them had the heart to correct the young woman, and they weren't sure they wanted to. Luke and Lorelai had bonded with Natalie in their own ways, and they already knew she would forever be a part of their family.

Following her trip to radiology, the doctor came in, checked her vitals and such, then placed her films on the light board for them to see.

"Well Natalie, it doesn't look like you have a concussion, so you were lucky there," he said as he looked at her chart. "This says you fell off a horse. Were you wearing a helmet?"

"Yeah."

"Good girl," he smiled at her, then looked to the x-ray of her wrist. "However, your wrist is definitely fractured, as I'm sure you already assumed…luckily, it was a clean break, so it will be a lot easier to heal."

"You'll have to put a cast on it?" She asked.

"We will, six weeks in a hard cast—"

"Will I be able to play soccer with that?" Natalie asked immediately.

"You can do whatever you want, but I know high school soccer has regulations on the type of cast you can play in," he said.

"Soccer is her life," Luke told him.

"Well, we can definitely get her in a cast that conforms to those regulations," he replied. "It won't be the normal hard cast though, so you will have to be a little more careful."

"I will," she assured him.

"Yeah, she'll only have practice until the first part of September, so she may be out of the cast by the time the actual season rolls around," Lorelai added.

"Good…you'll just have to take it easy, don't overdo it, and definitely don't get injured further," he advised.

"I won't," she said.

"Good to hear…someone will be in to do your cast shortly," he said, putting his pen in his pocket.

When they walked into the house that evening, Natalie plopped down on the couch, exhausted.

"You need anything?" Lorelai asked, leaning over the back of the couch to look at the girl.

"No, I'm fine, just tired, it's been a long day," Natalie answered.

"Okay, if you need anything, let me know, Luke's bringing dinner home from the diner," Lorelai said.

"Spaghetti Tuesday!" Natalie realized.

"He knew you'd like that," Lorelai smiled at her.

* * *

 _A little fluff and a little drama. Let me know what you think!_


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